A Strange Year
by Ravolox
Summary: Doctor Who is a long-established, British TV series which is very popular around the world. It tells the adventures of the mysterious traveller who calls himself the Doctor. But what if it isn't just a tale? Every legend has some truth, after all... (This story is my "project" with G. R. Moss who has the original fanfiction's rights)
1. A Strange Day

Andrew McAllistair was an ordinary seventeen years old boy. He lived on Russell Street with his family in a neat little house, from 15 minutes' walk from Trafalgar Square. His days went by in allotted order with a few changes; he woke up in the morning, had breakfast then took a metro to South Hampstead High School, learnt, wrote tests then went home and, wearily, to bed. His weekends were ordinary too, in similar ways as his weekdays, except school. In days like those, he lengthened his waking up until he could, left out his breakfast and if he could, watched his favourite series. Then he went to bed and waited his daily routine to continue itself from the beginning.

Only one thing made him differ from the big part of the world's population (except twelve million other humans) and it was that he lived in London. And often not that ordinary, as it were strange things happened in London.

The Friday of December 21 also started similarly, with the usual breakfast and going to school. Andrew and his friend, Dave Dankins decided that they walk home on the last school day, instead of jolting on a metro. Dave lived a couple of streets away from them but closer to school, so when they said goodbyes in front of Dave's house, Andrew was left alone. He started slowly towards their house when he tightened his scarf around his neck and thought about that the weather is really chilly now, however, there weren't any snow, as per usual. He sneaked from one little street to the other, watching the streamclouds which were coming from his mouth. He avoided the main roads. He liked the silence better.

He wasn't so far from his home, he was walking in an adjacent alleyway when he heard weird scratching noises behind him then a loud clicking's sound could be heard. He span around suddenly but he could only see a toppled trash bin in front of him, the alley was extinct. He snatched off his cap, puckering his forehead, digging into his hair and putting the headgear back again. He didn't know why but he often prodded his hair when he was nervous.

'Maybe it's only a stray dog,' he thought to himself then unhurriedly started to walk, humming the theme of his favourite series. He took only a couple of steps when there was a shout:

"Duck, kid!"

He didn't know where the voice came from but he obeyed and crouched down. And in this moment, something got ploughed above his head. A thing that he couldn't observe so much because someone dragged him away from where he'd been.

A man clutched his shoulder. It was cold but he wore a simple drab jacket which wasn't buttoned up. His white shirt could be seen and it was as if Andrew could see a suspender's bend on him. The man quickly span him behind himself. The boy looked at the other's face for a moment which seemed childishly young but very worried then Andrew could only see his back.

"Sorry if it hurt but run a little! Believe it, it makes good for you!"

"Still, who are you?" Andrew furrowed his brows.

"The Doctor! And now, run!" the other snapped at him.

"Doctor? Doctor Who?" Andrew's eyes suddenly rounded and he whispered incredulously. "Doctor Who…" He fainted.

"That isn't imp…" the man turned back then sighed. "And now this?"

Andrew slowly opened his eyes and started to regain consciousness. At first he felt that his head hurt, he probably hit it. He lifted his hand up, touching it. He's not bleeding, he found out. He took a big breath and he remembered what happened on the street. He sat up suddenly.

At first sight, he could have said that he was lying a huge room's cold steel floor but he knew in an instant that it is more than that. Behind his back, there was two white-painted doorwings, standing in a blue frame and one of them had an ancient-looking telephone on its top. There was a hat-rack next to the boy and opposite him, a little staircase led to a podium with fence around it. At its centre a hexagonal-shaped, divided formation was linked (by a pillar) with the ceiling in which some bubble-like orbs floated. The man from the alley leaned onto one of the counters while he observed his watch which was affixed to his left wrist. He noticed the conscious boy, walked down the stairs and sat onto the bottommost step and, opposite Andrew.

"Isn't there a problem with your blood pressure?" he asked.

"This is amazing!" broke out from the kid involuntarily. "Much cooler in reality!" He got up from the floor, dusted himself down, turned around then suddenly ran to his saviour (he saved him, Andrew was sure of it), took his hand and shook it firmly. "Thank you, Doctor! I don't know whether anyone thanked you but I do. In the name of the Earth as well. Wow, I never thought that I will be able to shake hands with the Doctor! They won't believe me this."

The Doctor stood up and pushed the boy gently away from him.

"Excuse me but you are incredibly weird. Didn't you hit your head much?"

"I've met you!" Andrew spluttered on. "The Doctor. The real one."

"Of course that you've met the real one." The Doctor fiddled with his fingers while he didn't really understand what was going on and it wasn't like him.

The boy didn't trouble himself but went on.

"Saviour of worlds, the Lonely Traveller who always needs a partner. It's mind-blowing!" He squeezed the Doctor's hand again. "I'm Andrew, by the way, Andrew McAllistair. Huge fan of yours. I would have so much questions… How is Susan? And Jenny? Why did you change the lock which had twenty-one keyholes? Do you know how will Captain Jack become the Face of Boe?" He suddenly fell silent. He looked at the Doctor and noticed his austere expression or rather, his more austere look. Andrew's gaze slipped lower, over the sharp chin, right until the Doctor's neck.

"Where is the bow tie?" he asked another question flabbergasted, the smile froze from his face.

"No more bow tie," the stranger mumbled, turning his back to his fan.

He walked onto the podium, snatched up a school bag from one of the seats and threw it to the boy. Andrew caught it, straining it.

"But… but…" he stammered.

"Here you go! You can leave!"

"But what happened?"

"Why do you care? You should be glad that you're alive! Go home to your loving parents and enjoy the holidays!"

Andrew didn't move.

"It was now, wasn't it? You lost Amy recently?"

"What? Why do you think that?" the Doctor clanged but Andrew saw that the got to the point.

Andrew took a step closer to the podium.

"That's why there isn't any bow ties, that's why the atmosphere here is gloomy. The place is almost pierced by the pain." He pointed at the man's arm. "I spotted when you played with your hand. The watch… isn't working. You're looking at it but it doesn't working. It doesn't want to move on, either."

"Watch?" yelled the Doctor. "Of course!"

He ran up on one of the stairs then he came back with a seemingly weird thing in his hand. The object was grey and it was built up by three identical, different sized, bent pieces which was cut in two ways and an internal orb which shone brightly. It rotated madly and screamed.

"The attack, the Pluvian chimera, the questions… all of this play is about this, isn't it? That's why you know that much about me and my…" he swallowed, "doings. You are the maker of the Eternety Clock. You came to check, eh? That I made a progress with it? But I don't handle it anymore. The universe's most enormous thing _does not interest me,_" he told Andrew, angrily. "Take it, here! Give it to someone else!"

This time Andrew was who looked as if he would be at a loss. He recognised the Clock, he saw it before but it wasn't him who made it. He was just an average human, as he explained this.

"I certainly didn't make it. No, I just…"

But the Doctor already pushed the Clock towards him which started to emit a blinding light from itself in this moment. Andrew dropped his bag to catch the weird object and he felt its warmth. In the next minute, the light faded. The boy blinked and blew out the air which he didn't know he was holding.

"Why it became this cold?" he asked.

He noticed the Doctor's widened eyes and as he took the Clock from his hand, he realised the cause of the sudden cold. His clothes vanished without a trace except his underwear.

"Bad Clock, very bad Clock!" the Doctor murmured when he disappeared on the corridor on which he brought it. "Dress up!" he shouted back, his voice echoing. "Climb the other stairs then the TARDIS will take you to the changing room!"

Andrew followed the man's instruction and he soon got to the mentioned room. After a few picking, he found himself a pair of grey jeans, a light green T-shirt and a brown jacket. Between the vast amount of clothes and accessories, he saw a blue helmet which had darkened glass in front. He put it on and it fitted his head. He thought he tries out something.

When he got back to the console, the Doctor already waited him. As he appeared, the Doctor pointed at his head.

"What is that?" he inquired.

"Helmet. I'm wearing a helmet now. Helmets are cool!"

"No, they aren't." The Doctor's lips seemed to be one, sharp line.

Andrew took the helmet down, accompanied with a contrite expression and a powerless murmur.

"Sorry, it just wanted to be a joke! You know because you're always saying that. You say it with fezzes and Stetsons!"

"You're mistaken, I've never said anything like this! And if we are at this point, let me ask the question: where do you know me from?"

"Erm, may I?" Andrew opened his bag and pulled out his laptop.

Thank God that he took it with him in the morning to show something to Dave. He turned it on, typed in his password and opened the 'Videos' folder. The Doctor sidestepped and watched the screen above the boy's shoulder.

"What are these?" The Doctor puckered his forehead. "Records?"

"Episodes," Andrew replied. "Don't you know about this? You are the main character of a popular, British TV series on Earth. This is my favourite show, by the way. Thinking about it, you really resemble to Matt Smith a little."

"At best, he resembles to me," the Time Lord told him, scratching his chin.

"That 'cool' thing is also from this."

Andrew, to emphasise what he just said, he looked for the episode _The Impossible Astronaut _and pressed play. The Doctor listened to the intro and as his history's pieces were played by actors (almost with word for word sentences) with fascination until his character stated: 'Stetson. I'm wearing a Stetson now. Stetsons are cool.'

"Maybe, I did say that," he admitted. "Are you happy now?"

"So it wasn't fabricated by the script writers," Andrew added with a half-smile and stopped the player.

"I don't understand how can someone know this much about my life?"

He pulled out a little, cylinder-shaped thing from his jacket's pocket in which Andrew realised the sonic screwdriver. On the bronze body's end, there were little claws which straddled the green crystal in the centre. The Doctor snapped it out then turned it on. The tool's humming, screaming voice filled the room as its owner swung it in front of the laptop. As he finished, he lifted the sonic to his face.

"I get strange signals!" he said thoughtfully then turned to Andrew. "Tell me, Andy, who made this?"

"Andrew," the lad corrected him. "The BBC. As I know, they were who always made this."

"Hold on!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Andrew, put the helmet back again."

The boy dutifully closed the laptop, put it away and took on the helmet again.

"Formerly I was at a film studio in the seventies which was at the BBC's hand," the Time Lord explained. "I met there with a helmeted individual who really, really resembled to you, and if I'm right, then…" He turned the sonic on again and this time it was Andrew who he swung the sonic in front of. "Yes, just as I thought. You were that person, from about five minutes later."

"What will happen to me five minutes later?" The boy lost countenance.

"I'll send you back in time!" the Doctor pronounced with a triumphant smile. "Then again, there's a problem. I have to do this as not to recognise my own hand's work. Vortex Manipulator is out of the question, it can be tracked down, and moreover, I don't have any. I can't take you back with the TARDIS, I would cross my own timeline, so… I'll throw you out of the TARDIS."

"What?" Andrew was taken aback, his face went pale although the Doctor couldn't see that.

"You heard it right. If my idea's right, hope so, then I'll throw you out in the appropriate point of the Time Vortex, you'll take a quick voyage through the Nothing and end up in 1973, England. If I'm wrong…" He fell silent. "I'm not wrong. Are you ready? You can be my partner for one adventure," he added. "This is my every 'fan's dream. I think."

"A signature would be enough." The 'partner' swallowed. "I don't feel myself ready."

"Oh, you really don't." The Doctor started to fling the sonic again, now in front of the helmet. "In vain some Nothing-material sticks to you, it wouldn't be lucky if I'd open up the grid." He turned off the device. "Maybe your voice will sound different."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Don't worry, you will be hooded so I can drag you back anytime. I make a telepathic transmitter from the helmet, just think strongly about your return!"

After this, he disappeared on one of the corridors again, to appear with an oval tool in his hand. He turned it in front of Andrew, then tossed it to him.

"A magnetic signal-printer. I found an alien tool in the building that, well…" He scratched his head. "I blew up. This thing will rebuild it so its makers won't notice its disappearance but it absorbs the signals and transmits to me. Maybe I can track it down. Place it on the device!"

Andrew nodded and put the signal-printer into his pocket.

The Doctor immediately appeared next to the console and flicked switches, pushed buttons and his hand rested on a handle.

"So, can we start?"

"I don't know…"

"Geronimo!" the Doctor whispered, pulled the handle and Andrew vanished.

Andrew felt hard, cold ground under himself. He was lying again but on his stomach. He felt as if he was paralysed, his limbs didn't reply to his brain's call. With long trying, he succeeded to pull his arms under himself and leaned on his forearm. He blinked confusedly.

He saw a pair of red-white trainers in front of him. As he pushed himself up further, he glimpsed the inherent but jarring blue suit trousers. Two arms gripped him under his armpits and pulled him up. The Doctor opposite him really was 'prior'. The blue suit and the brown knee-high travelling coat, plus the tie and the face gave it away: a former incarnation stood opposite him.

"Hello! I'm the Doctor! Glad to meet you!" started the other. "Are you okay?"

"I think so," Andrew replied.

"Great. Hm… strange voice, not human," the Doctor chewed upon it. "At least it isn't, at first! Maybe…" He also got out his sonic screwdriver then, as the other Doctor predicted, he examined the boy with it. "I don't know. Rare case," he grimaced. "Human or not human? Which of them are you? Will you survive if I take off the helmet? Should we give it a try?"

"Erm… Well…" Andrew didn't know how to answer.

"Irrelevant." The Doctor waved. "What's your name?"

"Talon," the boy lied the first name what came to his mind.

"Nice to meet you, Talon!" The Doctor started to grin. "I need your help. Will you help? Good, then go, please, to that door!" He intensely observed his screwdriver and nodded his head to the door's direction.

Andrew, as he walked to the door, observed the room where he'd been. Simple PVC floor, white-painted walls, blue window. Just enough light filled the small room. At one of the walls, there was a desk, filling cabinets next to it and a lamp atop it. Maybe an office, Andrew thought. There was another door, overleaf the desk. 'ARCHIVES', the label said.

Beyond the door, a boring corridor caught Andrew's gaze. Opposite him, a swelting plant waited to be watered. Though some windows he could look down to an enormous concrete backyard, the light poured onto a long, fluffy carpet.

"What can you see?" asked the Doctor. "Beyond the plant, of course. Poor thing, it would deserve some water."

"Not much," Andrew admitted as he tried to spy through the blurred glass. "What should I see?"

"Mostly nothing. I got one or more confusingly intricate signals from this place. Maybe one of them was you. Come on, show me!" He told this to his screwdriver which lay in his palm and the Doctor held it as some kind of compass.

The sonic peeped when the Doctor turned to the door's direction with it. The Time Lord looked up.

"Don't watch me but beyond the door!" he instructed the boy then started pacing in the room, round and round, maybe he succeeds to tune his gadget onto the signal again.

"Doctor," Andrew shuddered. "There's something here!"

On the corridor behind the door, Andrew saw a statue which wasn't there last time. At first sight, it was a woman's figure, its palm covered its face. Its wings made resemblance to the angels which were formed by the human imagination. He knew what it was: a Weeping Angel. Did the Doctor meet them already?

"What is it?"

"Well… a statue." Andrew drew the long-bow.

"Let me see!" the Doctor shouted and ran to the door. "Oh, what a nice statue! Watch it further, you rarely can see something this beautiful. Do not tear your gaze away from it, you can't blink, either!" He tinkered the door's lock with the sonic. 'So he knows them already,' the lad thought.

The Time Lord ran to and fro in the office for minutes and looked into the archives as well. His yell could be heard from the inside:

"Yes! This is it! It was nice, really nice! Dear Talon, stay there a bit more, I'll be there in an instant!"

However, a thing happened which the Doctor and Andrew didn't expect. The statue moved.

It slowly lowered its hand, its evil gaze and mouth could be seen which was opened to roar. It looked at the observing boy and, almost crawling, started to the direction of the door. Andrew stepped back, startled.

"Doctor!" he yelled. "It's moving!"

"I told you to watch it!"

"But I'm watching it!" Andrew shouted, his heart beat faster.

The Doctor arrived, running, his voyage coat floating behind him. He stopped in front of the door, slipping. He incredulously gazed at the Angel moving on the other side of the door.

"This is impossible! It can't dodge the quantum rights! Maybe the window is too blurred?" He pointed at the glass with the screwdriver at which the glass broke into pieces but the statue didn't freeze. "This is cheating!"

The Doctor dragged Andrew away from the door and they backed a couple of steps but did not try to run away. At least, the Doctor didn't. Andrew wanted to but the man didn't release his shoulder.

"Do you have any plans, Doctor?" The boy looked up to the Time Lord.

"No." His mouth drew into a reassuring, a little arrogant smile. "But don't worry, I always come out of this alive."

They waited until the Angel arrived to the door and rip it open. Dust fell from the walls. The Doctor baffled Andrew behind himself and sidled to the archives' door. Then, to Andrew's biggest stupor, he started to have a conversation with their attacker.

"You shouldn't be able to move," he said, accusingly. "How can you move, after all?" He turned to Andrew. "If I tell you, run to the archives' other end! If something is near at your hand, turn it over!"

"I vowed and the pond allowed me to." The Angel's voice was brazen and blunt like when a rock squeaks on a rock.

"What?" the Doctor turned back.

"They knew you come, Doctor! They watch and know you. And I waited for you. To hold you up. To stop you." It was thinking. "To make you an offer."

"What kind of offer?"

"Their heart would rejoice if you'd join. Theirs the creation and the death. _In statu nascendi et in aeternum_."

"It speaks Latin, Doctor?" Andrew asked.

"Not exactly." The Doctor raised his eyebrow. "My ship is able to translate alien languages but the language, in which it said those words, is so ancient that it would match one of the Latin's versions in human languages. It can't be shoved to be a spoken language."

"They would like you to be their slave. This kind of strong slave doesn't come to everyone," the statue continued on its harsh voice.

"Maybe they don't know me that much," the Doctor snorted. "I won't yield to anyone!"

"Then you will burn, Doctor! Flames will be your coffin, fire will be your vault!" The Angel got closer.

"Five hundred went to a flaming grave," the Time Lord said in a monotone voice.

"What?" The boy looked at him.

"Nevermind. Just a wisecrack." The Doctor jolted back. "Shame that only the two of us is here so what I said is not true."

"What?" Andrew repeated.

The Angel swung forward, the Doctor stepped back and pushed Andrew away.

"Now!" he shouted.

Andrew started to run as fast as he could. As he stepped across the archives' threshold, he saw how long the room really is. The filing cabinets made labyrinth. Andrew ran. His aim was to get to the wall at the back on the shortest way. He was surprised by the huge disarray, he thought that a studio's notes were stored in more of an order. Maybe the Doctor did this.

As he ran, he tried to fulfill the Doctor's demand, and if he saw a tinier cabinet which he could handle, he tried to turn it over. If he found something like this, he expanded to it and it landed on the floor with a loud bang. After knocking over some storeys, he got to the chosen wall. He turned, his eyes glued to the path he came on.

The Doctor followed him, falling astern on the same path which Andrew arrived on. His coat was raggedy in several places. He jumped over the tumbled cabinets with an acrobat's neatness and these times, his coat almost came to life behind him. He got to the wall with smashing speed, muffled the impact with his hands then turned breezily.

"So, are you okay?" He grinned. "High blood pressure, muscle weakness or shivering, cramp, breathing problems?"

"Nothing, I'm fine," Andrew panted.

"Great! Then step away a little!" He got the screwdriver out from his coat pocket and turned in on. "I'll make a rear exit."

"But won't gain upon us? As I know, Weeping Angels are really fast."

"Oh, they are, extremely fast. Except this one. It somehow dodged the quantum rights. But this way, it lost the quantum rights' advantages. It's still deadly, though."

And as on cue, the Angel appeared opposite them and started towards them.

"By the way, what did you do for so much time, Doctor?" Andrew still inquired.

"I slowed it down," the asked person shrugged then continued his work. "It can be said, I laughed into the danger's face." He puckered up his lips. "Only, the danger doesn't have a sense of humour." And he set his rived coat. "But I loved it so much!"

The Doctor worked along and Andrew continued observing the Angel which came closer, malignly. It passed step by step in the filing cabinets' forest on its slow but threatening way, not paying attention to the tumbled cabinets.

Although Andrew didn't really consider himself to be particularly skittish, this was the third time during the day when his knees started to tremble and his ears throb. He felt his heart beating in his throat. But of course, this day wasn't that ordinary.

He glanced back. The Doctor still hummed in front of the wall, writing concentric circles with the screwdriver.

"Come on now, come on!" he said with gritted teeth.

The Angel was just a couple of steps away when the Doctor exclaimed:

"That's it! I'm done!"

He knocked on the wall with an elegant move, whereof on a large surface little cracks ran in every direction, crossing each other like a spider web's strings and the wall slumped. Through the gaping hole, they could look down at the corridor's dusty, debris-covered and fluffy carpet.

The Weeping Angel was only an arm's length away.

"Doctor," Andrew cawed. "We should run!"

"Then run!" The Doctor appeared on the corridor right away and started to run.

However, he stopped a couple of steps later. He couldn't hear the crumbling wall-pieces' sound under shoes. He turned. His new partner really didn't follow him. Then again, the Angel's voice clanged up.

"Doctor!" it called him on a gravy voice.

The Doctor slowly started back and his brain worked feverishly. The Angel probably caught Talon, he just couldn't decide what it did to him. It sent him back in time to live from the time energy or it took him as a hostage to be the bait for a bigger catch? He was determined that he doesn't accept the first version. His gaze went to and fro on the corridor then settled down on one point. The Doctor started to grin. Then, putting on the seriousness' mask, he walked to the hole, ready in his soul, if his first theory is the true one.

He was as luck as Talon was. As he adjudged, the boy wasn't harmed but he could have sworn that beyond the helmet's grid, he can have a scared expression on his face. However that face looks like.

The Angel locked one of its hands around Talon's throat and raised its other one high, ready to hit.

"Doctor!" the rock monster repeated. "I would be sorry for letting you pass! Your partner also, I feel it, bathed in the time energy. He would be a long-lasting energy supply. But he's nothing, compared to you! I already passedover my owners' offer, now I step forward with one. His life for yours!"

"There will be a problem with this! You know, I don't like, if someone threatens me. Less so, if someone threatens my partner." He furrowed his eyebrows, creases deepening on his forehead. "I would place the haggling onto different bases instead." He turned his back on his 'deal-partner' and walked out of its sight to return with a fire extinguisher. "Do you know what this is?"

The Angel kept quiet.

"This, please, an answer to the flaming grave that you offered. This isn't more than an extinguisher. The human's simple innovation, in case of fire. Nice, isn't it? So, now, the quantum rights regarding to you…"

"Enough from the quibbling, Doctor!" The statue wasn't interested in the fire extinguisher. "Say goodbye to your partner! What do you wish, on the right of the last word?" It looked at the Time Lord.

"One word?" The Doctor snorted. "I have to say goodbye in one word? And how? You know," his face lit up, "there's a brilliant word: supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." He didn't finish yet but flung the extinguisher and swung it into the Angel's face.

The Angel reeled back and Andrew dove forward. The Doctor threw away the gear, pushed the boy onto his feet and dragged Andrew after him through the hole then all along the corridor. They ran into the staircase and climbed a storey of stairs. They ran on another corridor when Andrew could get over the fright and speak.

"Will it stop the Angel?" Andrew asked when he ran, panting.

"Not really but it hurt, that's for sure!"

"The Angels aren't invulnerable?"

"Quantum rights are tricky things. When I stayed with it, it tore up my coat," the Doctor explained then sighed. "Ah, if Janis would see what happened to it! So, I found crumbs stuck to the fabric. Rock crumbs. An Angel doesn't crumb. I presumed that I can injure or at least surprise it."

"You presumed?"

"It worked, didn't it? This way!" he instructed Andrew into a room.

The room was similar to the office where they met the Angel. It was totally empty except a strange object which reached up to the ceiling from the floor in one of the corners. It resembled to an hourglass, its surface was rugged and played in different colours.

The Doctor stopped in front of it and started to examine the gear.

"This was what enticed me here," he called back to Andrew. "The screwdriver identified it in the end but the Angel surprised me. How weird," he mused. "I parked here, rooms from this and I didn't even notice it. Brilliant camouflage-technology," he mused.

"And now?" Andrew inquired.

"I don't know what it transmits but if I could catch the signals in the Time Vortex, then it's in no way good! I turn it off!"

He searched for a point where sheathing cells touched and broke it open with the screwdriver. Dozens of crystal pipes could be seen between the two bent sheet-metals. The Doctor shook his head, disapprovingly.

"Hmm… It won't be easy," he chew upon it. "Maybe if… no, not good. Perhaps, if… what do you think? Nope, it isn't good, either." His words weren't addressed to his partner, he only murmured to himself, the screwdriver almost stifled his voice.

Then he suddenly exclaimed.

"This can't be true!"

"What's the problem, Doctor?" Andrew asked.

"I can't override it. So I'm not able to turn it off nor send the signal to another way. But it would be nice to track down where it came from!"

The signal-printer came to Andrew's mind. He quickly prodded his pocket to see whether he still has it.

"I can do one thing…" the Time Lord sighed. "I overload it!"

He started to hum with the screwdriver again, bending to the crystal pipes. Andrew stepped on one foot after the other at a loss, thinking about where to put the signal-printer. However, he didn't have time to render it because the Doctor finished the job. He turned to Andrew, clasped his shoulders and looked deeply into the helmet's darkened grid.

"Listen to me, Talon! I go for my ship and park here with it. I'll be quick but the Angel may arrive here by that time. Stay here, be brave and don't let it go near the machine! If it knows how to turn it off… if the Angel turns it off… the overloading sequence will break. You can't allow that, is that clear?"

"But what can I do?" Andrew was taken aback.

"Think of something!" And with that, the Doctor turned on his heels and ran away.

The seconds passed away with nerve-racking slowness since the Doctor went away. As the man stepped out of the door, Andrew placed the signal-printer onto the inside wall of one of the rived sheathing sheet. And waited. He waited the sound, known from the series, to bluster, signalling the TARDIS' landing. But the waited sound couldn't be heard.

However, the Weeping Angel appeared in the doorway. Its face fractured, its face was unrecognisable. Maybe because of the anger but it moved faster.

"Where is the Doctor?" it rattled.

Andrew backed to the alien device. The other Doctor promised that he watches the boy's thoughts, Andrew only needs to think about returning home. He closed his eyes. 'Back! Back! Back!' he repeated inside. He opened one eye but he was still in 1973, face to face with the Angel who came closer.

Maybe it made up its mind, if it can't catch the Doctor, it regale itself from his partner's time energy.

And to Andrew's biggest surprise, the whistling, screaming noise sounded. Not so far from him, just fitting, the blue police box emerged. Its door opened and the Doctor appeared. He threw a disk-like thing towards the Angel and it stuck to the Angel's rock-body. The Angel froze.

"Temporal time-cuff. It will keep the Angel for some time," the Doctor grinned, smugly. "Come, I'll take you home!" he waved towards the boy.

"Thanks but I have my own carriage," Andrew shuffled off the offered chance. "I hope."

As he said it, he vanished, accompanied by a bright flash.

The Doctor lifted his eyebrow.

"Fantastic!" He stepped into the TARDIS and closed the door. "I said this such a long time ago!"

The box's lamp started to blink then all of it disappeared. The energy slowly overloaded in the alien device then it gave the rein to the piled up tension in an explosion which took the Angel with it and tore it into pieces.

Andrew found himself in the TARDIS, face to face with the other Doctor. He stood in front of the computer while asserting searching parameters. A crate lay on one of the seats with cassettes and film reels in it.

"Well done, the signals already coming!" He looked at the boy. "You could take down the helmet. So, a couple of moments and…" In this exact moment, something loomed at the console's opposite side. First a siluette, than a body appeared from nothing. It was hugged by a strange shine. Andrew's eyes widened, the movement to take off this helmet stopped.

The appearing creature was taller than a human. Its scaly body was covered by a grey dress which stood from sheets. Its six long fingers grabbed at a cane, its other hand rested on its belt. Its face was covered by glass bell and on its foggy surface, the creature's eyes lit through with a violet glow. When it started to speak, its voice was like it would sound from under water.

"Nice try, Doctor!"

"Ah, a Nayad!" the Doctor whispered, walked down the stairs to stand opposite the creature. "It's nice that you popped in!"

"Don't waste your breath!" the Nayad said. "I just tell you that you can call us forth as the Pantheon of Discord."

"But here you are!"

"I'm a messenger. I bring you a warning. Don't stand in our way, anymore! _In statu nascendi et in aeternum._"

"You can't bear with yourselves again, can you?" the Doctor yelled at it, but the Nayad didn't listen, turning slowly. "You're planning another apocalypse? And for when?" In contempt of his every shouting, the alien vanished.

"What was this, Doctor?" Andrew drew in a breath.

"A Nayad. They live in another spectrum of reality. They try to destroy our reality's every habitant to seize the universe with their slaves. They already tried to do this at the time of the ancient Greeks, they named the Nayads. They dissipated with the nutation. Oh, and the year of 2186 will be hard… The Weeping Angel served them. The POND that it mentioned is the Nayads' local propaganda organisation."

"POND?"

"Promises of Nayad Domination. The transmitter in the studio planted their subconscious message into the series' episodes: 'Come, serve us! It will be really good for you. Be a happy servant, today!'"

"What's in the crate?" Andrew changed the topic.

"Copies of those episodes in which the message stayed, undeletably. What I couldn't bring with myself, I destroyed so there are some episodes you will never see. Goodbye, you can go!"

"Don't you try to stop them?"

"I told you, no more world saving! The universe needs to take care of itself. This was the last adventure but only because the Clock forced me to do it."

"And what about the Earth?" the boy asked as the Doctor baffled him towards the door.

He grabbed his bag and put it onto his back.

"There're Torchwood and Sarah Jane. And UNIT. They will save you."

"And if they can't handle something?"

"They will solve it."

The Doctor opened the door but Andrew recoiled at the threshold.

"Go! I homed in on a nice little cloud, I wouldn't like if they would snatch it away from me!"

"Two more questions and I go, okay?"

"Okay," the man huffed angrily.

"First: If you quit as saviour, what did you do in London?"

"Antony landed here and…" He shook his head. "Leave it, I was here. Second?"

"You really threw a stolen word from Mary Poppins with the extinguisher?"

"Stolen? She stole it from me when she plummeted down on the East Wind. And I stole it?" the Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Mary Poppins is an alien?"

"We made a deal. I answered, you can go!"

Andrew stepped out of the door but turned back.

"You won't quit from the profession," he stated.

"Really? Watch me!" The Doctor recoiled. "How do you know that?"

Andrew started to grin.

"The Christmas episode is coming."

The Doctor slapped the door angrily then vanished with the TARDIS. The cold went to Andrew's face but he started his way home, humming and he summarised inside: this was a strange day!

_But wait! The story doesn't end here,_

_The Doctor will come back for him._

_In the next adventure, one more will be the stake,_

_River will be back for her Sweetie._

_So this goddess will be around,_

_And we will see some more Nayad._

_Get ready, reader because new adventures await,_

_With the Doctor and his bluest blue TARDIS!_


	2. Citadel of Religions, Part One

"Nice try, Doctor!" a strange, unearthly voice rattled.

The voice belonged to a tall creature which was covered with flakes and was hugged by an unknown brightness. With its six-fingered, webbed hand it grabbed at its cane proudly till its other hand rested on its belt, sloppily. The strange light broke on its grey dress which stood from shining sheets. Its face was covered by a foggy surfaced glass bell and the smouldering pair of eyes glowed from beneath it which observed only one person, stiffly: the man opposite it.

The man who it called the Doctor wore a drab tweed-jacket, a white shirt beneath it and his collar was a little crumpled. His trousers were kept in place by red braces. His eyes flickered with anger but at the same time unmeasurable pain and sadness burned from him. Walking down from a podium's stairs, he examined the being and in an elfin and ironic manner, threw it to it:

"Ah, a Nayad! It's nice that you popped in!"

"Don't waste your breath!" the being called Nayad bubbled. "I just tell you that you can't call us forth as the Pantheon of Discord."

"But here you are!"

The creature slowly and evilly shook its head behind the glass bell.

"I'm a messenger. I bring you a warning. Don't stand in our way anymore! _In statu nascendi et in aeternum_!"

"You can't bear with yourselves again, can you?" the Doctor yelled at it. "You're planning another apocalypse? And for when?"

"You're interested, Doctor?" The creature's eyes gave away that it grins maliciously in the fog which covered its helmet. "When your partners descend like Theron-larvae?"

In this moment, its gaze jumped from the Doctor to the boy a couple of steps away.

The boy suddenly roused.

The boy was called Andrew McAllistair, he became eighteen years old three weeks ago. He lived in London, in a neat little apartment on Russell Street with his mother and his little sister. It can be said that he was an ordinary boy from every detail, except one: almost a half-year ago he had a strange day. He lived through a not everyday adventure on the man's side who wears the name: the Doctor. However, he couldn't forget since what happened and sometimes he dreamt about them. As he did now.

Andrew lay in his bed with eyes wide open. His forehead was bead with sweat and he snatched for air, panting. He sat up and looked around the room. He brushed the sweat off with the edge of his palm. His gaze wandered over blue-printed walls, a familiar desk and cupboards, shelves and curtains then settled on the opened window. He slowly calmed down.

Andrew threw the blanket away from his legs, the scuffed up dust danced in the sharp sunlight. He wriggled out of bed. He stretched then yawned. He stirred his feet then marched to the window. He stuck out his head off the window, the morning's crispy air thrilled him a little.

The street was quiet, just the neighbour old lady's cats meowed and huffed at the sight of the sparrows, sitting on the fence. The morning traffic's noise could be heard from afar as people hurried to their work.  
>Andrew stepped back from the window and closed it. His socks and underwear lay on the chair next to the bed in little piles. His mother washed them out two days ago but Andrew didn't pack them away yet. He opened his wardrobe, looked for a shirt and a pair of light trousers then dressed up unhurriedly.<p>

When he finished dressing, Andrew stopped, unmoving because his eyes came to a halt on the family photo which stood on his desk, next to the lamp.

He watched his father's eyes who was smiling roguishly under his moustache. With his left arm, he hugged the still kid Andrew and he kept the baby Stephanie in his other arm. His wife hugged him from behind giving hima peck on his cheek. How happy they had been!

Andrew shook his head to side-track his thoughts. He didn't want to deal with them now. At the door of his room, he once more looked back to the crumpled sheets then shrugged.

"I'll make my bed later."

He hurried down to the ground floor, into the kitchen. It was silent like the living room was. No one was in the house but himself. On the cabinet, the tea still steamed although the jug was no longer full; two plates and two cups were pushed into the sink. On the table a post-it lay with Andrew's mother's handwriting.

_I took Steph to look for a dress for the concert. You'll find everything for your breakfast in the refrigerator._

_Kiss,_

_Mum_

Andrew read it then ruffled and threw out the tiny paper. The house is his, at least until they get back.

From the fridge, he took out cuts and butter, made himself some sandwiches then with the company of a cup of tea, sat down onto the sofa in the living room. He reached for the remote and turned on the telly. Some kind of talking show was on, the host was chatting about the lately occurred annular eclipse with the invited astrologist. Then they said goodbye, the signal sounded and the countdown began till the news. The blonde newsreader lady smiled nicely then started listing how many fatal accidents happened this month and how these statistics motivate experts to draw the inference.

But Andrew wasn't interested in this. He wasn't really paying attention to the newsreader's susurrus because he started thinking. On a thing he thought over lots of times but still didn't understand.

He realised a half-year ago that the hero Doctor from the telly is a real person like his time machine and his adventures. Then how can it be that no one remembers the events happened on Earth? Only the series' episodes tell about these which were revealed as created by Nayads, an alien species. If these really did happened, why aren't there any notes, reports about them? It can be that the Nayads caused this as well? They somehow remove the Doctor's trail to stay being a simple fictive figure to humans?

These questions laded the boy and he felt like that he will never get any answers. After all, one adventure with the Doctor is a one time thing, right? Anyway, why would the Doctor come back for him? He has a new partner now, Clara, furthermore, Andrew wasn't even sure that maybe he would do it once again. Last time he got into more than one risky situations: he was pushed out into the Time Vortex, travelled through Nothing, stood face to face with a moving Weeping Angel and in only the last moment, he avoided an alien device's explosion.

Andrew all at once realised that the telly is extremely loud. It didn't matter how much he pushed the button on the remote, nothing happened so he ran to the machine and turned it off. He hoped that the neighbourhood didn't hear it because there will be a tiff because of it. The neighbour woman was an especially fractious type.

Suddenly, the doorbell's little bit ear-splitting melody sounded.

Andrew looked at the mess on the living room's table then waved. If a stranger rings, he won't let them in anyway but if it's an acquaintance, then they will excuse him. Maybe it is Dave, maybe he left here something last time.

He hurried to the door phone, turned on its camera which was signalled by the tool with a chirp. After some moments, the dark screen alleviated a bluish colour and started to glow. For the boy's biggest surprise, he didn't see a face through the camera but a blazing white smile.

"Who's that?" he asked.

Andrew's eyes widened further when the cheerful grin started to bicker from the door bell and its owner's windswept hair could be seen with his childlike eyes which mirrored ancient wisdom.

"It's nice to hear your voice again, Andy!"

"Andrew!" the boy said grimly.

The Doctor stood by the door.

Andrew was thinking: what should he do? By his door, there was the one who could give an answer almost to his every question with huge probability, in connection with his dreams and the Doctor's unnoticedness. But he was sure that if he opens his door to the man then he can't squib. The man will take him for another adventure because he doesn't really visit his acquaintances for a tiffin. But if he goes with the Doctor then maybe he won't get back alive or at least healthily. What will happen to his family, then?

"Andrew?" the Doctor's voice sounded again in which worry could be heard, probably the long silence bothered him. "Is something wrong?"

The Time Lord took out his sonic screwdriver from his jacket's pocket then started to swing it before the door bell's outside tool.

"You don't have to break in, Doctor!" the boy replied back.

He felt that he'd already chosen. He'll see whether it was the right thing to do. He quickly got down his coat from the hanger, took it on and opened the door wide.

He wasn't imagining it: the Doctor stood in front of the door. The man smiled widely while he hid his omniscient tool into his pocket with a tiny movement. This time he wore a dark jacket with a black waistcoat and white shirt beneath but the bow tie happily dangled on his neck. The blue police phone box stood behind him, the TARDIS, one of its doors was open.

"Hello!" He lifted both his eyebrows playfully.

"Erm… hello!" Andrew zipped his coat more quickly. "What are you doing here?"

"Come on, we've got work to do!"

"But why? I thought our paths will be separate forever." Andrew locked the door.

"Tut!" The Time Lord waved. "Another adventure with me… Wouldn't it be my every fan's dream?"

"I think so, yes but…"

"Then no but!" The Doctor started to drag Andrew kindly towards the TARDIS which was parked opposite the house. "We can't make a lady wait!"

"Lady?" The boy puckered his forehead. "Clara's here as well?"

"Yes, yes," the Doctor spluttered. "But I thought about the TARDIS."

Then with a last movement he led the boy into the inside of the ship, stepped in after him and closed the door.

The box's characteristic, screaming, whistling voice sounded, its lamp started to glow and the TARDIS vanished from Russell Street as if she was never standing in front of the McAllistairs' house.

Andrew stood in the TARDIS with the Doctor behind his back. The gilded decoration from earlier was replaced by a silvery sheet-cover. It seemed to be more angular than it was last time. Instead of the different sized holes he could see glowing circles in a row, two per sheet. It now stood on the same level as the console, the podium was gone and the pit seemed to be much deeper. The console itself had changed as well: the six divisions stayed but instead of the incomprehensible brightness, the light was given by blue light tubes in the cylinder which reached out from the counter and gave its base. The fence which hugged all of this also had a console. The spatial elements, where the central cylinder connected to the ceiling, were interspersed with Gallifreyan symbols.

As they stepped in, the girl waiting for the Doctor jumped up from the chair which was pinched to the fence. She wore a simple, modern dress, her brown hair fluttered her shoulders. She smiled kindly to the Time Lord but she also looked at Andrew with curiosity.

"So, how do you like the new decoration?" the Doctor asked the boy.

"It's a bit Star Trek-y," the boy shrugged. "But it's good, though."

The Doctor gave him a confused look but baffled Andrew further towards his present partner. The Doctor then stopped and put both his hands onto Andrew's shoulder.

"Let me introduce you Clara Oswald! Clara, he's Andrew 'Talon' McAllistair!"

The girl, smiling, stepped to Andrew and drew her hand out for a shake. The boy squeezed Clara's right hand and shook it. A mild shudder ran through Andrew's body by the touch of her smooth skin.

"Hi! Hello!" Bboth greetings could be heard almost in unison.

"Talon?" Clara inquired. "Strange name."

"Long story!" Andrew scratched his head.

"Now that you know each other," the Doctor started as he sidestepped them, "we can get to work! Andrew, come with me!" he instructed the boy.

Andrew started after the Doctor with Clara. The Doctor looked back and knitted his brows disapprovingly.

"Clara, you don't!"

"But why?" the girl pealed.

"Because… erm… this work is for us both," the man told her, perplexedly.

"Yeah, of course!" Clara crossed her hands on her chest and puckered her forehead, waiting for an explanation. "I want a proper answer."

"You'll get later!" the Doctor allowed but waved the boy after him. "Come along, Andrew!"

"I should have thought," the girl whispered, grimly.

The Time Lord tried to do as if he didn't hear her liverish remark.

The Doctor and Andrew hurried up the stairs then they cut through some corridors. Their destination was a long, wood floored room. A burgundy colour carpet covered the middle of the room in its full length. On the room's opposite wall at least six or seven clocks ticked, placed around a painting which represented a man. The painting hung above the fireplace in which the fire still flickered. More clocks sat on the fireplace, a Time Lord cane was maintained to its side and a Cyberman-cuirass lay next to it. There was also a magenta-fabriced armchair next to the fireplace with a cutty-stool. Two rows of bookcases lined the place which filled the room completely, however, there weren't only book on the shelves.

Andrew wonderingly looked around because he knew where he was: this is the salon where the Doctor's private collection rests. He curiously spied the room for the relics which were familiar to him as well. He spotted the Fourth Doctor's scarf on the coat rack. On the shelves, he could see Liz Ten's mask, the Master's laser screwdriver, a gramophone and an Ood translation orb as well; among the readings, he became aware of things like the Book of the Weeping Angels or the Journal of Impossible Things.

The Doctor watched, smiling as his 'fan' turned round and round with amazement on his face. Andrew evidently arrived to 'heaven'.

"This is fantastic!" the boy told him when he could speak.

"Yes" The Time Lord nodded, a bit sadly. "Everything comes here what I got, borrowed but didn't give back or found and kept to myself as a memento. There are too many of them, I'll soon need a bigger room." His gaze had a distant look. "But," he changed the subject, "I would show you something."

He walked to one of the selves and crouched down. Andrew followed him. The Doctor opened the two-way door wide for the boy to be able to see what's inside the cupboard's stomach. On the lower shelf, the 'big friendly button' lay next to a strange armguard but what the Doctor wanted to show sat on the upper shelf: a blue helmet with darkened glass on the right of the silverish Eternity Clock.

"You kept it?" Andrew wondered as he saw it.

"Yes." The Doctor sighed. "We said goodbye a bit nastily last time, I hope that I apologise with this. We've met in one of my worst moments."

"Doctor, I wouldn't be able to be angry at you! I saw what happened as well as seeing you recover from your bad moment!" He started to smile. "But this is really cool!" His hand suddenly lunged forwards.

The Doctor's palm suddenly locked onto the boy's wrist.

"Don't you touch the Clock. Once was enough what I saw."

The boy shook down his grip and pulled on the armguard.

"I reached for this. I haven't seen this in the series yet..."

He started to turn it. It seemed to be very old. The harness consisted of some disks, a tight leather band secured the right attirement, clamping some kind of sheath at the same time. Onto the biggest steel sheet a curved platen was attached which resembled to an uncrossed 'A'. The Doctor reacted quickly: he picked the armguard from the boy's hand than placed it back and closed the cupboard.

"Hey!" the boy exclaimed. "It's just an innocent armguard, isn't it?"

"Innocent, you say?" the Doctor snorted. "This is really good! This would be more ironic if it would smash one of your fingers down."

"What?" Andrew mused as he stood up. "But where did it come from?"

"From one of my friend," the Doctor snorted. "I was by his side in his last hours." He shook his head. "Let's leave it. I'm interested in you!"

"Me?"

"Yes. My apology wasn't about only saying goodbye..." He got stuck in the word.

"What?" Andrew had a bad feeling about what the Doctor wanted to say.

"Look," the Doctor started again, "I ruined the lives of so much people... and maybe I ruined yours as well... or I will."

"What do you mean?"

The Doctor brought out his sonic screwdriver again and waved it in front of the boy's face a couple of times. As he looked at the little device, his gaze became much darker.

"What is it?" Andrew inquired.

"I haven't picked up on time that almost every night, you radiate some kind of... signals. Maybe this is the best phrase for this. They are similar to the ones the other screwdriver detected when you travelled in my past. I thought back then that it is only the Nothing-matter's effect. But when the TARDIS detected your signals attracted my attention to that they almost match the signals of the Nayad which polluted the series' records."

"How is that possible?" The boy started to panic. The Doctor's gaze suggested that he has a reason to.

"I don't know," the Time Lord admitted. "But it is sure that they don't propagate the submission but ask for your execution."

The boy couldn't say a word. The fear overwhelmed him. His heartbeat fastened and he started to sweat.

"E-Execution?" he stuttered.

"Yes." The man nodded.

Andrew's throat tightened.

"Presumably I wasn't the only one to pick them up..." the man continued. "Nayads wouldn't like you to stay alive for some reasons. But there's a trail and if we follow it, maybe we can get to the end of all of this. When we've met I saved you from a Pluvian chimera, remember? This species only lives on its home planet, it doesn't able to subsist on any other place. So they could only send it from there. Anyway, this was the first attempt to your execution."

"We can find out, why they want to see me dead?" the boy pressed the words out of himself.

"Maybe. I can't promise anything. I can't guarantee the answer nor your safety."

"Why did you need to tell me this?"

"I just thought it would be good if you know everything that waits for you. Can we go?"

The boy just stood in one place, he couldn't move. What he'd heard was too much for him, he couldn't bear with the thought of death. He felt that he made a bad decision when he opened the door to the Doctor. If only they've never met! Then he felt something else: hot defiance and anger from deep inside, an overwhelming desire to live. His hands clenched into fists. His nails digged bloody half-moons into his palm.

"I don't want to die," he stated acutely.

"Look, I can't promise anything," the Doctor repeated, "but the Nayads made a huge mistake right away." The Time Lord started to smile. "They made me pay attention to you! Well?"

"Geronimo!" Andrew replied.

"This was what I wanted to hear! Let's go!"

The Time Lord hurried out of the salon, Andrew followed him, running. The Doctor hurried to the TARDIS' console and the boy stopped next to Clara who watched the Doctor's actions. The man's fingers danced madly in the stacks of buttons and switches, ran to and fro around the console which was designed for six pilots. His face's unapproving expression signalled that he's not content with something. The monitor glowed eye-imparingly.

"I know that you don't like this place but we must go there. We must, understand? For me! And for his life!" He added the last sentence, whispering it.

The TARDIS shook, it seemed she tried to give voice to her displeasure regarding to the destination with more aggressive method.

"Did you know that he talks to the ship as if it's alive?" Clara whispered to Andrew.

"Yes," the boy answered quietly.

"And don't you think it's weird?"

"No."

"Then you can be a little insane too," she poked the boy in the ribs.

"Hey!"

Presumably, the Doctor succeeded because the shaking stopped. The Doctor blew out the detained air then looked at his two companions. He gave a worrying glance to Andrew then hid his features behind the calmness' mask. He neatened his tie and waved towards the door.

"We've arrived!" he stated.

"Where?" Clara asked back.

"Take a look!"

The two juveniles walked to the door in the Doctor's wake. The man opened one of the TARDIS' white-boarded doors on which a blinding light poured in.

"Welcome to the Pluvia!"

Andrew was overwhelmed by the thought of looking at the rocky ground of an alien planet through the TARDIS' door. The sun of the Pluvia shone much stronger than the Earth's and it colour was darker as well, the flying dust in the planet's atmosphere tinted its rays orange-grove. The ground was covered by colourful, mosaicly placed stones, so they presumably landed on a civilised area, the sunlight glowed joyfully on the coloured stones. The air was thicker here than on Earth so the boy had the impression as if he was walking in fog, that blocks the airways this much. He took off his jacket and threw it onto the coat-rack next to the door.  
>While Andrew wasn't willing to drew out the air in dismay, until then the Doctor smilingly watched his two companions. Clara's face also mirrored curiousity and admiration, it seemed, no one can get used to alien worlds' atmosphere.<p>

As if outside the known universe's every inhabitant could be found there, they saw that much kind of aliens, alone or gathered together into a group. The enormous crowd was accompanied by an enormous noise. A faraway bell's dull bong and an unearthly aria's pleasant voice vocalled into the dutch concert of thousands of languages. Some aliens clearly outlined from the species' colourful medley sometimes who the Doctor realised one by one: Corbins, Thanagarans, Oods, Rigelians, Sontarans, Zygons, Silurians and the planet's natives, the Wakilan'dars.

The Doctor moved first, stepping out of the spaceship's door. He turned back to see whether they follow him when the box suddenly and aggressively shook. The two juveniles fell: Andrew onto his face and Clara backwards. The coat-rack swung as well, throwing down Andrew's coat. The boy put his hands in front of him instinctively to damp the blow. The girl succeeded in catching the fence but a second vibration completely toppled her off of her feet. Andrew collected some strength into his arms in a split second, pushing himself up then throwing himself towards the door. He clenched the closed doorboard and looked back at the girl who started to rise when the other doorwing suddenly swung, almost throwing the boy out of the ship. Andrew landed onto the dusty pavement. He noticed that the Doctor sprang to the TARDIS because the door, which expelled the boy, locked. He tried to push at the door but the ship didn't want to open up for him. Clara started to slat the white boards from the inside.

"Doctor! Help me!" she shouted desperately.

The Doctor argued with his beloved ship outside.

"Open it, can you hear me?" he murmured then suddenly changed tone and stroked the blue cabindoor. "Come on, old girl! Open, please!"

But the TARDIS paid no regard to the Time Lord then her lamp flashed by a way of indication, accompanied by a quiet screech.

"Don't you dare go away!" the Doctor snapped at her. "What are you waiting for?"

Andrew stepped next to the Doctor.

"Why did she lock in only Clara?" When he saw the man's questioning look, Andrew started to explain. "She threw me out. As if she would lock her away from something..."

In this moment a voice sounded behind them which the Doctor realised with pleasure which was mixed with disbelief and reluctance.

"Hello, Sweetie!"

He rolled his eyes as he sighed tiredly.

"Maybe you weren't averse from the planet..." his whisper was addressed to the ship.

He turned around with the boy almost in unison to find themselves face to face with the owner of the voice. The woman stood with her hands on her hips, watching the Doctor with an impish smile on her face. She wore a white canvas jacket above her deeply cut-out brown blouse, an empty gun-holder hanging from her belt. Her prankful blonde curls were fastened to her head by a roughly fabricated, black leather band and in the middle of the band, a red crystal glowed dully.

"River!" the Doctor named the woman. "What are you doing here?"

"It is good to see you again as well," he said, pouting. "Let's say, I'm on a field trip." She waved towards the boy with her gaze. "Don't you want to introduce me?" She slowly pulled her gloves from her hands.

"Andrew, she's..." he fell silent for a minute, as if thinking about what to say, "Doctor River Song but I think you already know that. River, he's An..."

"Andrew McAllistair," the woman finished the sentence then shook hands with the boy.

The Doctor rolled his eyes again.

"So, she knows it as well..." At the same time, he became aware that slowly, a curious semicircle starts to form from the hundreds of creatures and they are in the centre of it.

River, still clutching his hand, smiled at Andrew.

"The Doctor told me a lot about you."

"But I didn't..." The Doctor tried to protest but River waved him down.

"Spoilers," she added mysteriously then looked at the TARDIS. "You messed with her again?"

"What?" the Doctor snorted. "I've never messed with my ship."

"Yeah, of course," Doctor Song left the subject. "Did the door stuck? I thought you've already learnt how to open her. Did you try to smack your fingers?"

This time the Doctor didn't say a word. River turned to the man.

"Doesn't matter. You'll solve it. Look, something's not right on the Pluvia. I don't know what exactly so I need your help to find it out."

The crowd observing them slowly started to spread which was defined as a bad sign by River because she quickly finished what she wanted to say.

"Come to the Church of the Sun-believers! I'll tell you the details there." Then she started to run.

The Doctor turned back to his ship to try to open the voluntarily locked door again but for his biggest relief it opened, and the ship let out Clara who was trembling with nervousness. Meanwhile Andrew watched the three lizard-like creatures which made their way through the decaying masses. He could see their armed kins through the crowd.

All of their faces were covered by a steel-sheet in different sizes on all of them and bristly sideburns hung from under the disk on two of the approaching creatures. One of them was more slim than the other two, wearing a long, white gown which almost completely masked its form. One of the other two was huskier, more muscular, its body was covered by an armour which was from a material resembling to the already observed steel-sheet, a sword and a pistol hanging from its side in a case. Its shorter, presumably younger partner's skin resembled to the one's Andrew watched before, along with its armour and equipment. It held a little box in its hand.

Andrew was brought out from staring by Clara's voice.

"It hates me!" she stated.

"Hates you?" the boy joshed. "What doesn't live, can't hate, either."

The girl boxed into Andrew's shoulder which the boy painfully stroked. Then both of them dutifully stopped next to the Doctor as the little group arrived in front of them.

"Doctor!" the slimmer lizard creature's nicely ringing, high voice sounded. "I'm glad to see you!" It lifted its hands in front of its forehead, with its palms inwards, covering each other.

The Doctor repeated the movement then waved to the youngsters to do the same. Their eyes met uncomprehendingly but fulfilled the Doctor's instruction.

"Senator Osinn'Uquin-svald," the Doctor greeted the creature as well as introduced him to his partners. "He's a member of the Wakilan'dar Supreme Council. And Vog'Lehda-kai, the leader of the Peace Guards. Pleased to meet you!"

"Not a little, Doctor!" Commander Vog's brazen voice showed that he got used to giving orders. "But I would ask you take your spaceship somewhere more outlying. I wouldn't be pleased about an incident like what happened last time you were here."

"Sure, of course," the Doctor approved. "It really wouldn't be nice." He pondered for a bit. "Okay, I leave!" He turned back from the TARDIS door for the two youngsters' surprised shout. "Oh, really! Can I leave my partners here?"

"Of course!" Senator Osinn nodded then waved towards the shorter Wakilan'dar. "The Commander's son, Xan'Thela-kai will take care of them." The boy stepped forward and opened the box. "And before you leave, please, put on these!"

The Senator pulled out three head-bands from the box which was seen by Andrew on River. The red crystals were lightless. The Doctor quickly took them from the Senator's hand, threw tow to his companions then sprang into the TARDIS. The departure indicating noise sounded and the ship was gone.

Clara and Andrew looked at each other uncomprehendingly then at the bands in their hands. The Senator nodded towards them.

"Scions!" Then he walked away with the Commander.

Andrew and Clara stayed there with the lizard creature called Xan. Andrew slowly lifted the band and span it around his forehead. With a tiny noise, the band's two ends stuck together. The red crystal started to glow.

"He just left us here!" Clara said angrily as she boxed into the air. "How can you be this calm?" She looked at Andrew's nonchalant expression.

"Let me!" Xan spoke on a friendly voice.

He stepped to the earthgirl, took the band into his clawed hands and carefully clamped onto the girl. This gem glowed up as well. Clara felt as the emotions slowly calm down in her, she didn't feel the urge to be angry at the Doctor. She looked at Xan as a question came up in her.

"What did you do to me?" But in her voice, the anger couldn't be heard which she wanted to ask with.

"Not me but the band," Xan started to explain. "If I could invite you for a walk until the Doctor returns, I will explain everything. The Theron-incubation begins now, it's worth seeing, very spectacular."

The word set Andrew thinking.

"Theron? What is a Theron? I've heard it... erm... somewhere."

Xan waved his hand to leave. He walked ahead, between the two earthlings. He had a comfortable, soothing speed. He wanted to begin what he wanted to say.

"If you allow me, I'll start with introducing my planet..."

Clara interrupted him right away.

"A moment and you can start! How should we call you? I mean, your tradition is to say your full name or there is some kind of shorter form?"

"Or core name?" Andrew added.

"Call me Xan!" the Wakilan'dar answered. "Because this is my name. The second name is my mother's: Thela. And the kai is my clan. Our society is based on clans but this is only formal nowadays."

Andrew and Clara almost didn't realised that Xan began his story-telling.

"Our species is one of the most ancient species in the universe. Our technical advancement is behind the most moderns but only with a couple of centuries. But it isn't the technology what makes us famous; it's our solidarity and our aptitude for tolerance. Pluvia is the 51st century's sacral and confessional centre, the Citadel of Religions. Every known religion lives here in peace: the Neo-Christianity from Earth, the Sun-believers, the Beast-admirers, the Universal Church of Truth, the Order of Purity, the remaining of the Cult of Skaro; or the organisations which are connected to sects, like the POND and the SLENDER. So everything that you can imagine."

"I know what POND is but what is that SLENDER?" Andrew interrupted.

"SLENDER is one of the Silence's auxiliary organisations," Xan explained.

"How stupid these abbreviations are!" Clara noted but they didn't pay attention.

"Silence?" Andrew wondered. "But they are dangerous!"

"They all are." The lizard creature started to smile under the steel sheet. "That's why everyone who arrives to this planet wears a band. We knew that condemning all weapons doesn't prevent conflicts so we invented this technology. Can you see that high tower there?" He pointed over the vast amount of different sized, coloured, styled and multiracial buildings, at a tower, standing in the mountain range. "That is the aggression-controller. It keeps contact with your head bands and stifles every aggressive thoughts. It doesn't have any other effects. It prevents fanatic believers to rush at each other."

"And if it breaks one day?"

"We hope that it won't happen. The planet is under the protection of the Shadow Proclamation. If anarchy would get loose and the Peace Guards wouldn't be able to handle the believers, then a special unit, the Proclamators would intervene. The Proclamation allows them to use any devices which they think is good. My people picked up the name Wakilan'dar after our position in the intergalactic society. It means: guards of religions. We simply used the word Pluvian earlier but the Supreme Council decided that Wakilan'dar describes our species better."

Their way went past a landscaped area. Andrew, for his biggest surprise, could see trees from Earth: oaks, maples, pines. His eyes met with Clara's, then he looked at Xan. The lizard creature willingly explained.

"I brought you to the Earth-sector," he told them, smiling. "We moved the similar religions into sectors. Most of the Earth's mythology, surprisingly, has the same basics so most of them can be found here. The park wants to serve the believers' comfort. That temple there is for the neo-Christians," he pointed at a building.

This was the highest building of the buildings around the park, it reminded the Doctor's companions to the Notre-Dame in Paris. But they couldn't look at it more closely, their escort waved to continue their way.  
>Their road's next stop was a market-like area. The route went into different directions and was fenced with booths everywhere. The different specied vendors tried to make everyone pay attention for their products, outshouting each other. The products of richer vendors were advertised on shining sandwich-boards while the others needed to do with hand-written or carved boards. Xan apologised the two juveniles, saying that he needed to buy something for his father, asked them to stay there, if they want, they can look around as well but they can't wander too far.<p>

Clara gladly used the opportunity and immediately threw herself into the crowd. Andrew hesitated a little but he left as well. A human-like, falcon wing wearing Thanagarian offered tiny gems on its stand.

"The music of the Spheres can be heard from them!" the vendor shouted, searching for potential customers. "Buy one to the lady!" he offered to a watery, dark eyed Drell who immediately took its partner away.

The boy made out the fussy Pluvian letters with pleasure. He wasn't surprised on understanding the alien writing because he knew about the TARDIS' translating function. A couple of steps away a human offered little crosses which were made from wood or metal. Andrew thought that mostly neo-Christians can be found in the circle of his customers. Opposite him a Sontaran inquired whether they make suits of sorrow in its size as well. The look-around was interrupted because someone suddenly grabbed him and started to drag him through the crowd.

He calmed down when he realised that Clara pulled him away. The girl turned to him, smiling.

"You won't believe what I've found!"

They forced their way through the crowd, dodging alien creatures. A Hoix angrily shook its fist after them because they almost overthrew it. In the end, they stopped in front of a stout, furred alien. Its trunk shook as it noticed the two earthlings who watched its stand. Its clawed hands swung to invite them closer. Clara stepped closer, smiling, and Andrew realised what made the girl this cheerful.

TARDIS-models stood on the stand and all of them resembled mysteriously to the Doctor's. Some of them were simply made from wood and painted but there were models which had glowing and screaming lamps.

"Come on!" the alien spoke. "On Pluvia, you can find things like these only at me. Look around calmly!" Greed flashed in its eyes then lifted up one of the models. "You're from Earth, aren't you? The user of this spaceship is the Lonely Traveller who saved your planet unspeakably several times."

However, the two youngsters just grinned at each other, not showing any sign of buying something. The vendor had recourse to fraud. It dived into the stand and took out a plate. The plate was full of sonic screwdrivers.

"The best tool in the known universes."

"No, thank you!" Xan's voice sounded behind the juveniles who immediately pushed them away from here. A leather packet hung next to his pistol.

"Nine out of ten Doctors offers this!" the merchant tried once more but they didn't listen to it.

"This doesn't work on Earth, either," Andrew murmured.

The vendor leaned back disappointedly into the chair behind the counter.

"If we tell the Doctor about this…" Clara smirked.

"The Doctor knows about this." The Wakilan'dar brought down her good mood. "They offer mostly religious accessories on this market with just a few exceptions. This stand isn't an exception."

They slowly left the market and went to the direction of a hill.

"It isn't big like the one on Akhaten but we were in the planet's biggest marketplace."

"So you're saying that there are Doctor-believers on Pluvia?" Clara was inquisitive about the previous topic.

"Exactly. The man who risks his own life to protect and save the known species from the dawn of time. It gave itself to make him a subject of a religion because everybody knows the stories about him: the encounter with the Beast, the legend of the stolen planets and a lot more."

"This is why your father asked him to take the TARDIS away?" Andrew asked.

"Yes. A huge chaos evolved last time when the planet took wind of the Doctor being here. That day gave a lot of work to the Peace Guards."

"By the way, the Doctor," Clara spoke. "Where is he?"

"He has work to do near the Sun-church," the lizard creature said and Andrew concluded from his mysterious smile that they know about River's investigation. "He'll be here soon."

"You're a Peace Guard as well?" the boy inquired to change the topic.

"Yes, I'm a varlet. I had only two options: this or weapon development but I don't have the skill for science."

"That's it? How so?" Clara lifted her brows.

"Well," Xan began, "females have the control on Pluvia, they are the members of the Supreme Council. They are the diplomats, ambassadors. They are responsible for the scions' nurture and education. We, males, are better at fighting so we can posturize on vineyards connected to this. No promiscuity. We're wearing our mothers' names because of their significant social role," he added.

They arrived to the square where the Xan mentioned Theron-incubation readied to begin. The middle of the grassed area was occupied by a glass bell. The bell was fenced with security net and hundreds of creatures. They could observe almost half a hundred eggs under the glass. The young Wakilan'dar felt that he needs to explain to his two partners.

"Theron is one of our planet's most common predators. It's also called chimera or mindbeast. The species on Pluvia, as we do, possess, wait a minute," he was stuck, "don't possess… this isn't the right word… have a special ability: we are able to regenerate our brain's some percent almost completely. It belongs to our evolution: our memories remain but our grey matter refreshes and its capacity grows as well. This little predator feeds with this part of our brain. When we achieve that age to be useful members of our society, we perform a ritual like this. I've already performed this. So, who come here named it mindbeast because of this habit and the name stayed on the creatures."

Andrew's stomach clenched. So a creature like this attacked him a half year ago. The Doctor was right, that being really was from here.

"Oh, it begins!" Xan exclaimed enthusiastically and made way to the two earthlings to see the event.

The eggs' shell slowly cracked under the glass bell. As the tiny cracks ran over the chalky surface, greenish slime started to flow from under them. Then the eggs' occupants appeared one by one: the Theron-larvae. Breaking the eggshell, they fell to the ground and shrilled bitterly. Then the fist-sized creatures suddenly fell silent and looked at each other with their peduncular eyes. They reminded Andrew to snails which had a couple of clawed forelegs attached. The creatures opened their mouths and Andrew could see tiny teeth. Then, within moments, they went to each other.  
>Xan felt the need of explaining again.<p>

"Now they finish their first victim. The incubation actually is about finding the most shiftfuls. Those will attend to our rituals or medical treatments."

The crowd was so occupied with the spectacular life-death fight that they didn't realise that in the 'arena' one less larvae could be counted than the cracked eggs' number. And they didn't sense that the missing Theron is slipping, moving between the viewers' legs, trying to obey to the instinct within itself: attack to survive.

Andrew suddenly felt sharp pain in his shin. He exclaimed in alarm then glancing down, he looked into the peduncular eyes of the Theron which hung onto his leg. Some people looked up for his exclamation and the clutter broke out.

Xan took his sword which hung from his side within moments and hit the little predator down from Andrew. The animal started to escape. The boy pulled up the leg of his trousers and made sure that the wound isn't deep, the Theron's teeth weren't long enough to hurt him seriously through his jeans.

"Are you okay?" Clara asked.

"How did it escape?" Xan wondered. "Wait here!" he instructed Andrew, his voice resembling mysteriously to his father's. "I look for the attendant, we need to hunt down that larvae!" He hurried away.

Andrew looked down at the ground to keep an eye on his tiny attacker but the larvae disappeared. He and Clara vainly watched, none of them could see the creature. Then the girl noticed that the being's slime line ends on a place. As if someone took it away. She looked around, maybe she sees someone sneak away with the animal but the turmoil was too big.

Xan came back with the company of one of his female kin who had a rifle.

"Where has it gone?" the attendant asked.

"I think they took it," Clara spoke.

"That's trouble," Xan stated. "Because," he started to explain, "if a Theron tastes something's blood, it finds that something, even years later."

Andrew's heart started to beat faster as he realised that not only a creature like this attacked him, but exactly this specimen. He kicked into the sand in his helpless anger. He suddenly roused.

"Xan!" he exclaimed.

"What's the problem?"

"I became angry."

The two Wakilkan'dars' eyes widened. Clara also felt as her emotions come back. Xan knew that it isn't about only a simple malfunction, he had a gut feeling about the approaching trouble. He touched his gun.

Then the chaos broke loose.


	3. Citadel of Religions, Part Two

The Theron-caused panic at the periphery of the incubator changed into bloody scuffle within moments. Creatures from different species attacked each other, strained to each other to assure the other about their religion's seniority. They used everything for the sake of the cause: they grappled, scratched, bit.

Xan stood protectively in front of the two earthlings, on the one hand, to protect them from an accidental attacker, on the other hand, not to be swept away by fugitives. Because those believers who weren't attracted to violence or simply feared their lives, now ran screaming, shouting, towards every point of the compass.

While the young Wakilan'dar successfully avoided a Malmooth which clattered its chelicerae nervously, using out the defensive gap, a stout, armoured Litt went for Clara. With a foamy mouth, it pinched the squeaking girl to the ground.

"Monotheist maggot!" it yelled, spluttering. "How can you call yourself a believer, if you believe in only one God?"

Andrew angrily kicked the creature but it easily slapped him back. The boy, as he tried to exile the pain from his mind, noticed how much head bands lie nearby. Most of the creatures threw them away after its effect slipped by.

The Litt lifted its paw for a punch, Clara closed her eyes in fear but the hit didn't happen. The attacker's greenish eyes rolled upwards as it fell, luckily next to the girl. A narcotic disk stuck to its back.

Xan helped the two youngsters up from the ground and the attendant put a new clip into her rifle as she explained.

"This gets over any beings' integument, it maybe wouldn't be able to pierce a Weeping Angel," she smiled then suddenly loured.

Andrew swallowed nervously. There aren't any Weeping Angels, are there? He couldn't imagine them as they go to church.

"Thank you!" Xan moaned. "Let's go, we have to leave!" he said to the Doctor's companions.

He surged with extracted sword and shoot-ready gun, Andrew and Clara following him.

"Thanks for the attempt, by the way," Clara threw to the boy, forcing a smile onto her face while she threw the head band away.

"Anytime!" Andrew replied and he took off the band as well.

The violence infested the whole of Pluvia. Wherever the lizard creature guided Andrew and Clara, they could discover trails of skirmish everywhere: injuredly lying aliens, groups which mourned their lost ones, bloodthirsty and victim-waiting fanatics. Beside Clara a Hoix fell to the ground, clutching its bleeding neck. Maybe it was the same Hoix they saw on the market. Andrew noticed a grey man who ran to and from almost losing his mind, shaking his fist and shouting.

"The Deathbringer will come for us! He will come for us!"

But Andrew also noticed that the inhabitants didn't get their name haphazardly. Almost every Wakilan'dar, male or female, changed into a religion-guard. They hid the fugitives into their houses, tried to prevent bloodshed with nice words and, if their job allowed carrying their guns, then calmed down the malevolently behaving creatures with narcotic missiles. They practically acted instinctively. Xan's pistol went off a couple of times as well, he was very good with it and didn't miss aim. The Peace Guards' squads tried to silence the suddenly way-making aggression's tokens.

Xan sighed with relief when he caught a glimpse of one of the Peace Guards' mobile command unit. His joy became bigger when he also caught a glimpse of his father on the moving base. But his cheer deflated as he saw the security measures: they equipped isometric walls. This means that only him and his kins can enter so he can't stash his proteges here. The gates' blue light suddenly hurt his eyes.

The young Wakilan'dar guided Clara and Andrew next to the door then ran in to his father and started to explain that the Doctor's partners need to be protected.

The Commander stepped out of the isometric door, with a Peace Guard behind him who clutched a strange tool. He nodded to the two earthlings.

"Zohr will calibrate the door presently. Then you can enter." Then the Commander stepped back into the base.

The boy and the girl resentfully stood against the wall, glancing at the hustling soldier or looking into the mobile base. They irritably waited while the lizard creature cut a curl from their hair with a laser scalpel to enter their DNA into the gate's database.

The turmoil inside was almost as big as the one outside. Andrew counted six or seven terminals, Peace Guards sat in front of them and browsed the incoming reports. Soldiers marched in and out, and as if one of them left with a medical equipment. The Commander walked to and fro, Xan staying behind him with a step.

"We will need the missiles!" the Commander said.

"We ran out of them," Xan stated.

"What?" Vog froze.

"There weren't any on the market but three clips. In total. All of the merchants lamented on deficiency."

"That's fifteen missiles!" the Peace Guard-leader yelled. "There are thousands of them outside!"

"And I already knocked out fifteen of them. You're very welcome!" the boy threw to him.

The Commander angrily skipped Xan, turning to his dependents.

"I allow the use of live ammunition in reasonable case!" he told his kins who immediately transmitted the command to the other bases.

The Commander turned to one of the terminals to listen to the armoured Wakilan'dar's report. By this time the gate was calibrated so the earthlings and the mechanic stepped into the unit. Andrew pressed himself to the most distant wall, Clara following him. The mechanic sat down next to them.

"Sir! Explosion at the Sun-believers' Church!" one of the soldiers reported.

Clara's eyes widened.

"The Doctor is there! We have to find him! Let's go!" she whispered to Andrew then unexpectedly ran out of the mobile camp.

Andrew wasn't fast enough; the mechanic caught and pushed him to the wall. Xan looked at him resentfully. The Commander waved to the Peace Guard.

"Zohr, bring her back! If she turns rusty," he sighed, "escort her to the Doctor and protect her!"

The soldier nodded and immediately went after the girl as he got himself a rifle.

"You stay here!" he snapped at Andrew.

"Nautialan-Dremilonian encounter, six sectors from here!" the next report stated.

"One squad from the nearest moving base, with light weapons!" the Peace Guard-leader gave the command.

"Multiple attacks! Over forty is the number of victims, severe burns." The soldier swallowed, then added. "The survivors don't remember the attack."

"The Silence? Call someone from SLENDER, calm them down! Is there any fidgetiness at the Cult of Skaro?" he asked another Wakilan'dar.

"There isn't, Commander!"

"Weird... Anyway, direct three squads there and equip one of them with protonguns!" Then he turned to the next terminal.

"Sir! A few Geth broke loose in the Veil-sector."

"For Keitha!" The Commander was taken aback. "How could they bring those damn machines through the blockade? Initiate call to the Proclamator-station!"

"There's no need, Sir!" a soldier spoke behind him. "Incoming call!"

"Switch it on!"

The reports faded on the little screen as they gave their place to a video-contact. On the screen, they could see the face of a man in his forties. The face was featureless, as it were: no injuries, no wounds. His black hair was cut short. However, what made him differ from an ordinary human were his eyes: the white of his eyes were dark and his pupil glowed red. That pair of eyes looked at Commander Vog now.

"Commander!" he greeted.

"Commander!" Vog replied. "I would have some questions for you!"

"Don't trouble yourself, Vog!" the Proclamator-commander averted.

The Wakilan'dar angrily hissed at the appellation.

"There's no need to intervene!" Vog said sullenly. "We have the situation under control."

"I don't ask for your permission, Commander," the Proclamator stated. "I just tell you that we land soon. One of our squads already closed down the periphery of the aggression-controller. We take over the control!"

While they talked, nearly two dozens of Proclamator-ships sank below the dust-layer and the clouds to land on different points of the planet. Twenty soldiers marched out from every landing-craft's metallic throat. They wore the Proclamators' grey armour and had weapons, ready for shooting.

"But..."

"That was it, Commander!" And with that, he turned off the communicator.

The screen went black. Xan watched his father, breathlessly. He knew what reaction to expect. Commander Vog chopped at his sword's handle angrily then exclaimed aloud.

"Bloody Zhak!"

"Sir!" the Peace Guard read up another report. "Sworded Headless Monks were reported from the ninth base."

"How could they bring in swords?" the Commander shouted, then took a deep breath to calm himself. "One squad after them! If they don't succeed immediately, send two more for support."

"Sir?" a soldier inquired, turning from his terminal. "If the Proclamators already here, why don't we call them in as well?"

"This is our home, we protect it!" came the reply.

The soldier nodded respectfully then turned back to his screen.

The Commander turned to Xan but the previous terminal operator's voice made him stop.

"Sir, another incoming call."

"Again from the Proclamators?" The Commander turned to him.

"No, Sir. Secret frequency."

"Switch it on!"

The reports became invisible once more as the video-contact's screen appeared. As the picture cleared, the Doctor's worried expression could be seen in front of the Commander. The broadcast was still not clear; the Doctor's movements seemed rugged. His face was covered by dust.

"Hello again, Commander!" he said in a sonorous tone. "We've noticed what happened."

"Are you okay? You and Doctor Song?"

"Perfectly."

"Where are you?"

"Near the Sun-believers' Church, in one of the tower's peripheral service tunnel. But we can't get into the control room directly from here."

"Then use the back entrance, Doctor!" The Commander's eyes narrowed.

"The back entrance?" The Time Lord fixed his bow tie nervously.

"You've heard me correctly. And thank Senator Osinn that I haven't break the tunnel in yet. It can be useful for us now. And be careful, the Proclamators are already there."

"Yes," The Doctor imitated a salute, then lifted his sonic screwdriver to break the connection.

"One more thing, Doctor. The girl goes towards you, maybe that would be good if you'd wait her."

"Andrew?"

"He's here."

The Doctor nodded, then the screen went black.

A soldier stepped to the Commander.

"Sir! Smoke comes from the Nursing Home. There's no sendable Peace Guards on the nearest base. We are the nearest."

The Commander quickly devoured what he'd heard, then raised his voice which the worry could be felt from.

"Xan! Take six Peace Guards with you, start saving the people! As soon as possible and needed, we'll direct others there."

He then pointed at six soldiers who threw their guns away. Two of them took laser welders; one of them took a collapsible rock-drill with him. The fourth girted the toolbox onto his partner's back. The last packed the medical equipment.

They left but Andrew stopped Xan.

"I go with you," he spoke but didn't know where he got his courage from for this. "I can be of assistance to you. I would only be under their feet here."

Xan wanted to say no at first but saw the determination in the boy's eyes so he nodded at last. He thought that maybe the earthling is in that much safety next to him as he is on the mobile base.

Andrew ran through Pluvia's streets with the seven Wakilan'dars until they arrived at the Nursing Home's magnificent but flaming building.

As he broke the connection, the Doctor took a deep breath. He looked at the sparkling control panel of the machine in front of him then at the empty screen again. He slipped the sonic screwdriver into the pocket of his jacket and fixed his bow tie. He heard steps.

River stepped forward from behind the corner. Dust covered her face and dress and she resentfully shook some debris from her hair. She no longer wore the head band. One sleeve of her canvas jacket was ripped; she wore a makeshift bandage from its material on her left wrist. She looked at the Doctor, then sighed.

"I only found painkillers in one of the medical box," she told him.

The Doctor stepped to the woman, then examined the injured wrist. She hissed painfully at his touch.

"Not that roughly, Sweetie!" she smiled.

The Doctor released her hand.

"Let's go, then," he said. "We have to save a planet."

And with this, he started off with a big elan, River following him. The Doctor started to explain.

"These wires probably connect the generators with the controller." He pointed at the cables, running on the wall. "Because it is a secondary service tunnel, we can't go further from here. But the generators are working and this is a good sign. We have to get into the tower!"

"Just tell me, how!" River interrupted.

"I'm on it." The man rolled his eyes. "We attack on two fronts: I get into the control room and you break into the tower and look for the direct control unit. Since the Proclamators already landed nearby, I give you the TARDIS to sneak in with that. Can you drive her?"

River nodded. But she became serious as well.

"Sneak in? With this?" she asked.

In the meantime, they arrived at the spaceship. The blue box was covered with dust as well and the Doctor lovingly cleared the 'St John Ambulance' sign.

"Excuse me," River continued, "but this huffs like a dying donkey. I can't sneak in with this."

The Doctor angrily blew out the kept-back air, then started thinking. He opened the spaceship's door, stepped in then waved to River to follow him. He went to the console, River stopping next to him. On the leather seat lay the head band which was given to the Doctor.

The Time Lord massaged his frowning forehead with his fingers.

"I will so regret this..." he sighed and pointed at one of the fasteners. "You can deflate the handbrake with this."

River started to grin, then stepped to the Doctor's place at the console. She stroked the fastener, then pulled it. A tiny click was the answer.

"Good luck!" the Doctor said as he left the TARDIS.

River locked the doors. While she smiled continually, she thought about that she will rub this under the Doctor's nose at the next given time. Maybe more than once.

The Doctor, standing in front of the TARDIS, noticed the approaching Clara and the Peace Guard who accompanied her. He can surely find a believable explanation about why does the TARDIS vanish suddenly. Replying to his thoughts, the lamp of the ship started to glow but did not give a sound this time. It slowly became invisible as it scuffed up the dust around itself. Then it vanished.

Clara recoiled from the shock, then stumblingly started forward. Her Zohr-named escort saluted the Doctor then turned back towards the mobile commander unit.

"Where did it go?" Clara asked.

"For a field trip," the Doctor shrugged.

"This is not funny," his companion told him.

"Come along, Oswald, we've got work to do!" He smited his hands together. "This doesn't sound well," he added, whispering.

"Andrew couldn't come," Clara spoke.

"Doesn't matter, he's on a good place. The Dynamic Duo will solve the situation."

"You better not try things like this." The girl knitted her eyebrows together. "And where are we going now?"

"To a place which I've never wanted to visit. Never."

Andrew didn't know where he is and what he's doing. Or rather, he knew it exactly but didn't understand it. He was currently standing in the Nursing Home's ground floor and he almost couldn't see anything because of the thick, acrid smoke. He lifted his forearm in front of his face more than once, maybe with that he can prevent the soot to leak in through the connections of his safety glasses. As he couldn't wear the mask which was made for the Wakilan'dars' longish jaw, one of the Peace Guards quickly hustled an air filter for him which could be placed in front of his mouth and he got glasses as well. Which became more and more smoky, whenever he rubbed it with his forearm.

He coughed loudly a couple of times as he tried to orientate in the thick smoke. Xan explained on the way here that how much the Nursing Home is important: they grew and educated here the city's every 'scions' as the lizard creatures named their descendants; they nursed the pregnant females here and helped in labours as well. Because, as it was revealed, for Andrew's biggest shock, Wakilan'dars were mammals, in spite of all of their reptilian features.

He caught a glimpse of the Peace Guard-commander at last who very expeditiously gave orders to the six subordinate lizard creatures. And the six soldiers accurately and efficiently made their work. The Nursing Home's crew and the scions already and almost completely left the flaming and crumbling building; the soldiers currently looked for relicts. Outside the Proclamators already moved cordons around the building and examined the people who got out of the flames. They baffled those who need help into medical troopers.

The earthboy still didn't get why he volunteered for this at all. He cursed the moment more than once when he nodded with approval at the Doctor's request. He found himself in the centre of events within minutes; he felt all of this as a suicide mission. He hasn't seen a fire like this before: there weren't any elements from wood in the building, yet the whole building flamed. Maybe it's about a Pluvian ore which is flammable? A suddenly ringing scream disrupted his thoughts.

A young female Wakilan'dar appeared over the storey's railing. Her face was completely uncovered, she had only a metal dome on her nape, which surprised Andrew. Until this time every lizard creature's face, who he met, was covered with Pluvian steel-made mask in much bigger extent. The boy admired the face which played in a green light and which had soot stratified on it. However, the flashing of her eyes told him about an intense, inside fire.

"Xan!" the female screamed.

The named lizard creature flinched as he heard his name. He turned towards the shout and as he noticed his kin, anxiety came over his face behind the mask and the steel sheet. He also yelled a name but Andrew didn't understand it because a pillar crick-crack collapsed next to him with some part of the storey's balcony. The boy successfully dodged away from the falling debris.

Xan waved towards him and he waved back. Then he realised that the Peace Guard wasn't interested in how he's doing. Xan ostentated that he has to hurry up to the female because he was the nearest to the stairs. He took the steps in two to get up sooner. Meanwhile on the ground floor, Xan briefed the soldiers then he also followed Andrew with the Peace Guard who wore the toolbox.

"They got stuck!" the young female huffed. "Four scions in the west wing!" she explained to the arriving Peace Guards.

The Wakilan'dar's legs sank under her and Andrew jumped to catch her. The female's simple clothes strongly scorched, the boy could smell the bitter odour through the filter.

"Get her out of here!" Xan yelled at him.

Andrew nodded and carefully started towards the stairs. In spite of her youth, the lizard creature still towered over the earthling so she could easily rely on the boy. They slowly, step by step moved down the stairs.

Meanwhile, the two Wakilan'dars searched for the mentioned building whose ceiling crashed in. Grievous weeping sounded from inside. Xan took an antigravity lifter from the toolbox and pushed it under the debris. As a big enough gap opened, he clamped the tool in the given height and the other soldier placed out some slidable metal brackets not to fall the scree onto them. Then they carefully scraped themselves through the ruins.

Andrew and the female got out of the building. A grey-armoured Proclamator immediately ran next to them and helped in the support of the lizardgirl. Another Proclamator swung a medical scanner in front of them then waved to the soldier accompanying them to baffle them towards one of the medicinal transport units.

Inside the Proclamator helped the female onto a bed, then left them there. The Wakilan'dar's breathing normalised and Andrew slowly calmed down as well, as he threw away the air filter and the glasses. He decided that he stays next to the lizard creature.

He looked around in the trooper. There were another eighteen people beyond them, mostly aliens but there was an aging human man as well. He didn't seem injured and he nervously stroked his greying goatee.

"These aren't injured," she stated. "No one is, except for me."

A bad feeling took Andrew over, he started towards the only exit. He saw as Xan and the other Peace Guard, with two-two unconscious Wakilan'dar scions on their shoulders, get out of the Nursing Home. The other four soldiers left the building earlier.

Andrew wanted to go towards Xan but he felt the push of a heavy palm on his shoulder. The pain twinged into him as he tried to break out of the gauntlet's grip. He suddenly got rid of it but now another armoured palm snapped on his face. He fell backwards, onto the transfer unit's table. He tried to scramble to his feet with a droning head but a dark object went towards him.

A laser rifle's butt cut into his face. An intense pain engulfed his brain then the world started to go black.

_Only a little poem which belongs here:_

_The adventure continues in the next chapter!_


	4. Lonely God

Previously:

_The Doctor and Andrew, with Clara, together,_

_Travelled to the far future._

_Andrew here immediately, separately_

_Got into a big mischief._

_The girl with the Time Lord goes to a place_

_Which the Doctor never wanted to visit._

_River Song also tries to solve the situation,_

_Before Pluvia falls into oblivion._

Andrew slowly started to come around. He was lying. He tried to open his eyes but, because of the suddenly twinging pain, closed them again. He felt like that his right cheek swelt. He took a deep breath and tried to concentrate on his surroundings before he tried to blink again. He felt something soft and fluffy under himself, it could be some kind of carpet.

He could inhale clearly so his nose wasn't broken. Something suddenly started to tickle his face so he couldn't stop that, in spite of the pain, not to open his eyes. The light hurt him, which was coming from the lamps, but a larger shadow hid the clarity from him. Smooth, blonde hair's curtain streamed down, this shaded and this caressed him.

He blinked a couple of times to succeed in focusing on the hair cascade's owner. He succeeded at last, but gasped for breath: he could see his mother's well-known, friendly face in front of him. She smiled and seemed relieved. She stroked over Andrew's face with her hand, carefully.

The boy was completely confused. He sat up quickly but felt giddy. His head dinged. His mother knelt opposite him and brushed a curl from his face.

Andrew looked around and found himself in his own house. He sat at the bottom of the staircase. Everything became more and more blurred. Could he just fall down the stairs? But he was on Pluvia previously. The Doctor could have brought him back? Or he just imagined all of it? Maybe he really just tumbled down the stairs and really dreamt. No, this is not right. Something's not right.

"The Doctor!" he exclaimed, not caring whether his mother thinks him delirious. "Where's the Doctor?"

"Come on, Sweetheart," his mother told him nicely, "this is only a bruise, that's why you don't need a doctor."

Andrew was clueless, he felt that something's not right.

"Where's the Doctor?" he repeated, he was able to do only this.

"Oh, Andrew." His morther stroked over the swelt cheek. Andrew thrilled. "You fell only a couple of steps, there's no serious problem. But," she stood from next to the boy and stepped towards the mobile phone which rested on the cupboard, "if you want, I can call Doctor Foreman."

Andrew slowly staggered to his feet as well but still felt giddy. He took some steps carefully towards the living room. His legs buckled but he succeeded in catching the backrest of one of the armchair.

The telly was on and his sister, Stephanie sat opposite it, on the sofa. She seemed very excited and as Andrew took a glance at the clock, immediately understood why: Doctor Who starts presently. His sister was also as big of a fan as he was.

Andrew closed his eyes as the pain twinged into him again. As he looked up again, the Time Vortexed intro was already on. _Citadel of Religions,_ the appearing title advertised.

"This is not good, it can't be possible," the boy moaned, unbelievingly.

His legs buckled and he fell to the ground. His mother appeared next to him immediately but as she looked at him, her face seemed blurry. The contours slowly vanished and rearranged, then he could see a man's face in front of him.

The Doctor and Clara stood in front of a church. In front of a church whose wall was the stone-carved, sixteen metre high replica of the TARDIS' two doors. A little gate opened on it like a tiny cat crawler. Clara, stifling her laughter but not succeeding in masking her smile, stared at the carving.

"This is the TARDIS!" she stated.

"Well, this is more than that," the Doctor tried to correct her. "This is my…" he cleared his throat, "church."

They stepped in and an unbelievable sight greeted them. A TARDIS statue stood at the end of the nave with a tiny altar in front of it. The walls were covered with Gallifreyan writings, they told the exploits of the Doctor. Gallifrey's landscape was painted onto the ceiling.

"This is so alien," Clara spoke, "and yet, it seems so earthly."

"Just like me," the Doctor replied.

The church was filled up by praying aliens from different species. Some of them were standing or kneeling in front of the altar and some of them huddled up in the corners, waiting the outside chaos to subside. A couple of them turned back as they heard the door's creak and their eyes lit up from the piety's light.

"The Doctor! The Doctor! The Doctor has come!" could be heard from the church's several points.

The prayers slowly stood up. They made their way to the duo, presuming redemption from the newcomers. Arms reached out of the crowd to allow their owners to touch the Time Lord or his companion as if the touch would already ensure the turn of things.

"Take me with you! I'll be a good partner of yours," a medium high, platinum blonde earthgirl pleaded. "Please!" But her voice was absorbed by the crowd's roar.

The Doctor slowly hacked his way through them, heading straight to the TARDIS-altar. Clara followed him while she looked right and left, delighting in the aliens. The crowd accompanied them to the altar where an alien seceded from them. The light from the church's light-source glinted on its bald skull, its tentacles, which hung from its chin, swayed freely. It wore a black uniform and in its right hand, it held a white orb whose pipe disappeared between the tentacles.

"Welcome, Doctor!" The orb in its hand flashed with a yellow light, its rhythm orientated to the rhythm of its speech.

"Oh, an Ood!" the man exclaimed.

"Thank you for coming here in a critical moment like this!" the Ood continued.

"Why wouldn't I be here?" the Doctor started to grin. "Where's the prelate?"

"He left the church to look for medical equipment for the wounded hiding here," the alien replied readily.

"That's problem! Did he tell you by any chance when he'll be back?"

"He should have come back already," a Shansheeth croaked from the crowd.

"That's a bigger problem!" the Doctor muttered. "Well, we'll solve it somehow else," he exclaimed. "A little space, please!" This was addressed to the crowd.

The Ood respectfully bowed and drew apart from the altar and the crowd also slowly spread in the church. Clara stepped next to the Doctor.

"What are we doing here, Doctor?"

"Well, I've actually always known that sooner or later, I hoped more later, this place will cause a disaster. Pluvia. It isn't a lucky thing to condense this many religions in one place. And the controller is only a machine. Someone operates it. And it can get into the wrong hands."

"You knew that this will happen? Why didn't you stop all of this at that time? Maybe you could have prevented it…"

"No, it isn't that simple. I can't stir time for my liking, as if I would cook a soup. Anyway, you should taste it, some people say my soup very tasty." He stopped for a moment, then continued. "And I didn't know that this will happen. I didn't know when, either. The universe's big, yes, but if something happens, that makes its effect felt everywhere."

"Like when you throw a pebble into the water?" the girl asked. "The waves can be seen further away as well."

"Not exactly but we can say that. So I drilled… bore a tunnel to the controller's central control room."

"You bore?"

"My believers offered their help. It would have taken a long time alone."

"You benefitted from their faith!" Clara got at him.

"Hush! Be quiet!" the Doctor hushed her. "Yes. I know and I'm not proud of it. But I need that tunnel now. The TARDIS hides the entrance but the key is with the prelate. The key goes with the post. I have to break it up now." He brought out the sonic, then waved towards the girl. "Now go and look around for a bit, you'd be under my feet."

Clara turned her back furiously but her huff was absorbed by the screwdriver's screaming sound. With her arm crossed and her face reddened from anger, she went to discover the church. She adored the painting on the ceiling for a bit but she slipped over the captions on the walls, because, for some strange reasons, they weren't translated by the TARDIS' program so they seemed to be simple frescos. Wherever she went, she was followed by the looks of the aliens dwelling in the church. She started to be slightly embarrassed.

"You're so lucky!" the blonde girl shouted towards her from which Clara blushed.

At last, she entered into one of the transept's wings to be further from the believers. A shocking scene greeted her: three metre high, full-body statues lined up next to each other, fully filling the place. Clara had her mouth hanging open.

In this moment the Ood stepped to her. The same Ood who the Doctor also talked with.

"They are the lucky ones who were accepted to be the company of the Doctor," it explained in a dispassionate tone.

"All of them?" she asked back, marvelling.

"Yes. For example, she is," it pointed at a woman's statue, "who helped the Doctor liberate my people. Free Oods will be forever grateful to this noble lady."

With this, it left Clara alone in the room.

"Doctor? Can you hear me?" the girl yelled out.

"I'm working," the Doctor murmured then changed tone. "Yes?"

"All these people were your partners?"

"Yes."

"Am I here somewhere as well?" The girl craned her neck.

"Not sure. That room is locked down with an intelligent lock. It knows in which moment of my life I'm in the church so the lock hides my future from me. And from everybody else as well. Of course, it always can be a little wrong. That's why I don't come here. I mean, to the planet. And the statues aren't always in a good chronology, either."

Clara sauntered to the end of the statue line. She became aware of two things: the portrayed characters' names were carved into a little bronze plaque on every statue's plinth and that there were distinctly numerous carvings of women. She stopped opposite one of the first statues. She could see a short-haired, innocent-faced girl in front of her.

"And how many women had been lured into your box?" she teased him, shouting.

"If you continue like this, you'll hoarsen," the Doctor yelled back.

"No problem. Andrew would also surely enjoy this," Clara smiled, her anger already evaporated.

"I'm sure. He would be amazed by this," the Doctor murmured.

The girl slowly walked away, only glancing at some of the statues. She stopped another woman's marble analogue. She looked up at woman's lovely face, long hair and loose gown. She tried to read up the bronze plaque.

"Lady Romanadvo." Clara stuck. "Romanadvora." Her second attempt ended with failure as well. "I can't pronounce this."

"Romanadvoratrelundar," the Doctor replied. "Or just Romana. Old friend of mine."

"But why Lady?"

"She's just like me, a Time Lord. Or rather, Time Lady."

"Yeah." The girl nodded and stepped away.

The next statue's curiosity was an addition. As if the little angular, dog-resembling formation was added to the woman's leg posteriorly. _Sarah Jane Smith, _the plaque advertised. Another was next to it: _K9._

"Sarah Jane Smith?" Clara shouted.

"Oh, Sarah," the Doctor mused. "We met on my funeral last time," he answered to Clara.

"I won't ask you about it." The girl looked at the statue once more then left.

Her next stop was one of the few man statues. His long greatcoat was knee-high and Clara could almost feel his cocky glance on herself. She bit her lip.

"Wow! And who is this Jack?" she spoke in a dim voice.

"I can't believe it," the Time Lord shook his head, "he's still flirting as a statue. Clara, come on now! I'm finished."

Whereupon the girl arrived, the Doctor already expanded the altar from its place just at the right amount for them to be able to see the tunnel's entrance and one person fit into it. The man let Clara go first then he stepped into the tunnel.

In the tunnel, they passed supporting sticks at regular intervals and weak light seeped from the light tube which ran at the edge of the floor. The flight became more and more steep. They were going upwards.

"Doctor?" Clara opened the ball. "In the church, every companion of yours has a statue. The TARDIS also has one. Where's yours?"

"They couldn't be able to display my variegation," the man shrugged while he gently huddled the girl further.

The borehole finally ran into a metallic wall-like thing. The Doctor stepped forward and waved the sonic in front of it a couple of times. The wall shook then, yielding to the man's push, opened.

The two time adventurers found themselves in a large room. The Doctor, after a little looking-around, found what he was looking for: the control console. He started towards the console, Clara following him. When he got there, he noticed only then that there's someone in the opposite end of the room who watches them.

Then he found out that the being wasn't only watching them. He waited them. And the Doctor just realised that they walked into a trap.

Andrew howled in shock but a wide palm stuck to his mouth.

"Relax, kid!" the man whispered.

The boy tried to observe the man better. He had shoulder-length, dark hair and wore a thin, rakish moustache under his nose. The scientists' intellect shone in his eyes. He slowly took his hand off from the boy's mouth.

"Relax, everything will be alright!" he said.

"What was this?" Andrew asked.

"Memory." The man said only this then stood up.

Andrew now observed that his interlocutor wears the Proclamators' grey armour and there is a bag by on his side which he placed an empty syringe into. As the boy looked around, he realised that he's still on Pluvia. He was in a room whose floor was covered by debris and dust. A burnt smell hung in the air. A corridor started out of the room and the Pluvian sun's orange-grove light poured in through a domed gate.

There was everywhere in the room who he saw in the medical transport earlier. Most of them stared in front of them with glassy eyes.

The old man's shirt was unbuttoned and he paddled with a necklace which a simple marble key hung from. It reminded Andrew to his own apartment key. The gaffer suddenly gripped the key, tore the necklace and threw them away.

"It's good that you came to yourself," a voice said next to him.

Though his face smart but Andrew turned his head to the side and caught a glimpse of the female Wakilan'dar who he brought out of the Nursing Home. She was literally in a better colour. The soot was washed down from her face so her skin seemed much brighter.

"Thank you!" the lizard creature smiled.

"You're welcome!" Andrew nodded. "I'm Andrew." He would instinctively offer his hand but realised that his hands were cuffed back.

"I'm Kara," the young female replied. "Where do you know Xan from?"

"I just met him," the boy continued the discussion. "He was very surprised when he saw you."

"Well, yes," Kara shrugged cheerily. "I went to the Academy with three years under him, we were good friends," she started her tale-telling. It suddenly came to Andrew's mind that maybe every lizard creature is this talkative. "Since he finished and became a Peace Guard, we didn't talk. I finished my studies exactly a year ago. After the ritual, I entered employment in the Nursing Home. I love dealing with scions." She started to smile.

Their whispering and the others' whimper were the only noises which could be heard but the Proclamator's rumbling bass sounded now.

"Sir, I can report excellent results," fear rang in his voice, "eighteen out of twenty reacted as it was expected; only two subjects show negative results." He stroked his moustache. "I think it is about a direct link. I can't do anything with this. Yes," he answered his commander's question. "Yes, I'm ready! Icron quits!" And with that, he fell silent.

"What is he talking about?" Kara whispered. "He gave us something…"

"What did you see?"

"As a kid, I always listened to the legends about the Doctor," the lizard girl tried to recall her hallucination, "my mother told me them. Somehow I tried to believe that the Doctor is only a tale but at the same time I knew that this isn't true."

"Have you met him already?"

"Yes," the young female nodded. "A lot of years ago a Minotaur got to our planet somehow. Pluvia was an appealing meal for it. But the Doctor stopped it. We met when he saved my life. It wasn't this Doctor," she added. "Maybe younger, maybe older, I don't know. But it was him."

"Maybe this was what he meant by direct link," Andrew chewed upon it. "I know him in person but I tried to tell myself that he is only a TV hero."

"What?"

"Let's leave it."

Their conversation was interrupted by two arriving Proclamators. Both of them wore helmets. The Icron named saluted the one on the front but he made him not worthy of attention. Presumably he was Icron's principal. A slim, female soldier paced next to him, galumph. The principal stopped in the middle of the room and took off his helmet. He gave it to Icron then threw his legs apart a little and clasped his hands behind his back. Everyone turned towards him in the room.

Andrew looked at his face. Simple, featureless face, short-cut hair, redly glowing eyes.

"Welcome!" he spoke solemnly.

The boy recognised the voice: he talked with Commander Vog. The leaders of the Proclamators stood opposite them.

"I'm Commander Ral Caim," he introduced himself. "Soon, you will be put down as unfortunate war losses. However, because I'm not a beast, I think you have the right to know why you get killed. You were the subjects of an experiment in the course of which we altered your memories so you are persuaded of, at least the most of you," he gave a flat look to Icron, "that the Doctor-named Time Lord only a malarkey. The serum is only traceable in living systems…"

"Come on!" the old man exclaimed. "My clouded minded grandfather talked about this Doctor. Everyone knows that he's only a tale." A couple of people nodded at his words.

"Everyone will think this," Caim corrected him. "You were the firsts from the new world order. Maybe think about this when you die. I was glad to meet you!" He took his helmet from his dependant and put it back onto his head.

The three soldiers left the room.

"Are you crazy?" the old man yelled after him. "You sentence us to death because of a tale!"

But instead of the Commander, the Icron-named came back. He carried a strange, oval machine which he put down onto the room's floor. He lifted up a panel on the surface of the object, typed something on the keyboard then locked the control panel back.

He picked up his helmet from the ground where it lay and put it on. Then he walked out and Ral Caim's voice could be heard from outside as he gave orders.

"Is this a bomb?" the boy asked.

"Yes, and this isn't a low-powered one," Kara approved.

The Wakilan'dar gathered strength into her legs and kicked herself towards Andrew. She lay into the boy who hissed in pain. Then he felt Kara's clawed fingers as they were fumbling around the cuffs which were secured onto his wrists.

"I'm sorry!" Kara whispered guiltily. "But we can't let that explode. My father is a mechanic so I'm adept in war tools a wee bit."

She succeeded in unclasping Andrew's cuffs then instructed the boy how to deactivate hers. Andrew suddenly felt himself more alive. He remarked this to the Wakilan'dar.

"They have a narcotic function as well, they work in a similar tenet like the head bands. That's why the others don't try to escape."

Kara hurried to the bomb then she also retrieved the control panel. She hit the keyboard quickly, sometimes humming thoughtfully. Meanwhile Andrew watched the entrance. The situation seemed very familiar to him; he had a déjà vu feeling. 'If she says that she can't overwrite it…' he huffed to himself. But the female belied his gloomy thoughts.

"It's almost done," she told him.

However, Andrew's misgiving wasn't completely baseless. In this moment, an armour booted leg appeared in the entrance. Icron came back to check the explosive device.

Kara froze. She hit down the panel and hugged the tool. She lifted it with a defying force.

Icron warningly took a step towards them.

"Eve, come!" he yelled out to his partner and the woman was inside in a second.

"Run!" Kara shouted and started running towards the corridor.

Andrew immediately turned after her and followed her.

"Don't let the boy escape!" he heard the woman's helmet-dulled voice.

The Doctor's brain was working quickly as he tried to find out what to do. He quickly looked the figure up and down which lodged in the shadow. The being sat on some kind of throne and wore a light-coloured toga. An object lay in his lap, his hand resting on it. His bald legs ended in claws. His hand moved and lifted the object.

He had a gun.

He pulled the trigger and the Doctor closed his eyes. He got ready to regenerate. But the well-known tingle, painful feeling held off. As he carefully peeked from under his eyelids, he saw as Clara collapsed without a sound.

"Why was this necessary?" he shouted.

The mysterious figure stood up from his seat and took a couple of steps towards the Time Lord. The Doctor's suspicion proved true: a Wakilan'dar set the trap. He didn't wear mask on his face, his sideburns were ruffled by the draught. He watched the Doctor continually as the Time Lord watched him.

"I only sedated her," he spoke. His voice was elderly although he didn't seem old.

The Doctor calmed down a little. He wanted to go towards the girl but he had to experience bitterly that he can't move. His legs were somehow paralysed but didn't collapse himself.

"Force field," he whispered. "Personalised."

"Pleased to meet you, Doctor," the lizard creature scornfully bowed. "I've heard a lot about you. Like almost everyone."

"And you are…" The Doctor tried to find out how much he's blocked by the force cage. It seems that he can move his head.

"Teb'Sagro," the Time Lord's interlocutor introduced himself while he put the gun down onto a table. "I can't say that I'm your respecter. I think you expected something like this."

The Doctor didn't reply.

"I've never really understood," Teb'Sagro continued, "that glory which surrounds you. The Benignant Healer. The World-changing Hero," he scoffed. "Not many nations see your true self: the Warrior and not the Hypocrite Saviour."

"Come on, Teb," the Doctor spoke. "Can I call you Teb? Although, I miss something from your name. Your clan, maybe? Where is it?"

"I don't have any," the lizard creature hissed.

"You weren't disinherited, were you?"

"Don't be stupid, Doctor. I don't need a clan. In the new world order, it doesn't mean anything."

"New world order? Oh, you work for the Nayads, don't you?" The man lifted one of his eyebrows.

"I work with the Nayads," Teb corrected him, "yes. They know you."

"If the deal comes next, don't bother, I've already heard it." The Doctor sent him a disdainful look.

"I don't need your contempt!" the Wakilan'dar yelled. "You don't have the right for that. You aren't a hero, Doctor." His voice hardened. "You're a war-criminal, a murderer, a genocidal," he spluttered then changed to a more human tone. "Or you don't think like this?"

"I don't deny my past, I never did."

"Of course, you ran from it. But the road will run out and you'll have nowhere to run. I make sure to be like this, this is my job. You think that the saved lives make null and void those which you took, which you sacrificed? While you who knows how much lives can live. Thirteen? Five hundred and seven? Infinite?" He fell silent.

He took a little tool from his toga's pleats and the tool's size was like a mobile phone's. Buttons were on it and Teb pushed one of them down.

The Doctor was overwhelmed by a strange feeling while the force field holding him flashed with a yellow light and became visible. He suddenly felt a sting in his ribcage. His face strained from the pain. One of his hearts stopped beating. As he pushed away the feeling, another pain split into him. His other heart stopped as well.

"Imagine, Doctor," Teb continued speaking, "how the Nayads were surprised when they caught a Shakri cube which drifted in the solar system space and next to the documents of the human genom they found a Time Lord sample as well. Yours. That's how we can stand here now and I finish the got job. I delete you, they delete your memory."

"Who, the Nayads?" the man moaned clumsily.

"But I won't make the same mistake as the Silence." Teb'Sagro didn't pay attention to the struggling Doctor. "I don't try to make a fix point from your death. I only make sure that you won't have more lives when you arrive to Trenzalore."

The Doctor wasn't able to concentrate on the talking Wakilan'dar. As his body slowly gave itself up to the force field's push, he realised why did his invisible crate became yellow earlier. It sucked away his regeneration energy. The Doctor's head started to throb. He saw memories: ones which were already experienced and ones which didn't happen yet. Lives which he can't live down. Emotions raced through him: happiness, angst, grief, shame. It almost made him mad that he had to experience all of them at the same time.

He tried to look at Teb'Sagro. The Wakilan'dar slowly started to smile. He was sure of the Nayads' victory.

The boy and the lizard girl were on the run in the building complex's surprisingly long and diversified corridors but the four armoured boots' clicking never stayed away behind them. Both of them expected that their escape will come to an end soon but, for their relief, they succeeded in always finding a corridor, through which they didn't run into their pursuers.

As they left an intersection, Andrew became aware of strange noises. They were the sounds of dull steps, as if they would come from everywhere. Then he solved what he heard: the echo of their own steps. They slowed down.

"I told you to go to the left and not to the right!" Kara hissed nervously while she hugged the explosive device more tightly.

"Maybe there's a door at the end…" Andrew spoke with hope. He could hear some kind of humming.

"If we'd go back…" Kara started.

They heard the Proclamators-caused thumping. It didn't have a strong echo so their pursuers can be far enough from them but behind then, nonetheless. So if they turn back, they will run straight into their chasers. They don't have another choice.

They started towards the end of the route, in the hope of finding some kind of door or passageway. Their luck didn't leave them this time; the corridor was truly locked down by a Pluvian metal-made door. Somebody stood in front of the locking mechanism, leaning forward a bit, the humming came from them. Andrew recognised the curly-headed woman with relief.

It was River Song.

"Andrew?" The woman turned as the duo arrived, hiding her right hand behind her back. "What are you doing here?"

"We're running," the boy panted.

"From who?"

A reply wasn't needed because the two soldiers arrived as well. While Andrew and Kara could barely breathe, the strain couldn't be seen on the two armoured pursuers. The woman touched the pistol case which was strapped to her thigh and took her service weapon. The seemingly pistol-sized object immediately leapt and took up the shape of a rifle. She aimed with both of her hands, holding it confidently. She made a quick movement to be sure where to shoot if either of them would move.

"Can I help you?" River threw to her pokily while she moved her right hand almost invisibly.

"Step away from the door!" the Eve-named Proclamator instructed her on an icy voice.

Icron started to get closer to the Wakilan'dar carefully to take the bomb from her. River's and Kara's eyes met for a moment, then the woman, with a tiny nod, opened the lizard girl's eyes to the gap between the two soldiers.

Kara quickly jumped and swung between the two Proclamators. Eve was so surprised by the movement that she didn't have time for a proper aim. The laser bullet went innocently into the corridor's stone-scooped wall and left a tiny scorching after it. Andrew winced.

Icron immediately went after the Wakilan'dar. Andrew stared unbelievingly after the leaving pursuer and pursued.

Eve lifted her rifle again, the aim pointing straight to Andrew's forehead. The boy's heart beat in his throat. He hates weapons, no, detests them. He's never shot with a toy gun, let alone, with a real one. And now a real laser rifle points at him in the hand of someone who would shoot him without hesitation. He was scared, mortally frightened. He didn't want to die.

"They need him dead," Eve murmured and her finger moved on the trigger.

In the same moment, River's hand swung forward as well and the humming sounded. Its source was a barrel-shaped, pen-sized object.

The laser rifle didn't fire. The object in River's hand started to sparkle and she dropped it quickly. Using out Eve's astonishment, she eliminated the distance between them with two large steps. She put her hand onto the rifle's barrel and easily took it from the soldier's hands. Then she quickly turned it and holding it at its butt, as if grasping a racket, she swung it towards the Proclamator's helmet. The soldier could handle the first blow but she fell after the third, the helmet landed loudly on the ground. The previously cracked plexi glass was completely broken. Andrew could look down at the unconscious woman: her lip rived and her red hair's couple of loose curls stuck to her forehead.

River flung the rifle and picked up the still sparkling gadget from the ground. Although it was bulkier than the Doctor's but without doubt, she held a sonic screwdriver in her hand.

"Where is that from?" Andrew asked. "It was the Doctor who…"

"Tut," River waved while she threw it away as well. "I bought it on the market from a pushy vendor. Giving this much money for a dross like this!" She shook her head disapprovingly then turned suddenly to Andrew. "Why, will I get one from the Doctor?"

"Well… erm… so…" the boy stammered nervously.

"I think you're looking for the word 'spoiler'," River started to smile.

Andrew cast his eyes down then looked up defiantly.

"We have to go after Kara!"

"We can't, we have a more important job to do," Doctor Song told him.

She bent down to a little leather shoulder-bag about which Andrew didn't know that it was there. She took out a steel sheet and the same armguard which the boy saw in the Doctor's salon. Meanwhile he tried to shook off the horror's numbness.

"We have to save a planet," River echoed the Doctor's words. "And I need your help for this. Give me your hand!" Andrew lifted his right hand but River rebuked. "Not that, the other one!"

"Won't be the Doctor angry because you took this?" the boy asked but he didn't get a reply.

Andrew now noticed the jumble, slack bandage on River's left hand. It seemed that she got hurt maybe during the explosion. Probably that's why she needs help.

River clutched Andrew's left hand and put the armguard onto it. Although it was a little loose on him, the boy felt it comfortable. The woman slipped a ring onto his finger as well then closed his hand into a fist.

"If I tell you, open your fist quickly!" She led Andrew's hand to a reverse T-shaped opening next to the door. "This door leads to the aggression-controller's internal structure. I couldn't get in with the TARDIS because it's protected by a temporal shield, probably from us, but the lines aren't covered. I parked her a couple of corridors from here." She turned the steel sheet. "The door is a smaller bite. My hope was in the screwdriver but it's good that I prepared myself for a traditional burglary as well."

She fit the small steel sheet into the T's beam and she tried to hold it with two of her fingers to give some place to Andrew's forearm as well.

"This key-carded solution is relatively old-fashioned," she explained while she looked for the good position, "but this is our luck and as…" She poked the steel sheet and the lock clicked. "This is it! Now!"

Andrew stretched his fingers and a curved blade jumped out of the leather band-clamped case. The blade swept into the opening, straight under the sheet, until the lock's depth. It stuck. Both of them waited breathlessly what will happen.

As the steam-hasps freed from the pneumatic pipes, the door started to slide and vanished in the wall. River took out the steel sheet then waved to Andrew to step away from the lock. But the blade stuck and didn't want to move. The boy pulled his arm and the thin blade snapped. Andrew almost fell backwards. As the tension stopped, the broken end also fell out of the lock.

"The Doctor surely won't be happy about this," Andrew stated while he took off the armguard and gave it to River.

The woman put that and the broken piece into the shoulder-bag and put it on.

"Maybe he won't notice it." She stepped through the door with an impish smile.

Andrew followed her and the door slid back into its place.

"I think this is it!" Andrew yelled, pointing at an angular, waist-sized machine, quoting the approximate description which River gave him.

The boy was inside the aggression-controller's tower. The architecture of the tower's interior was carved into the mountain range, the enormous steel building's sides were linked by bridges and the different levels by ladders. In the centre, a huge pillar sprang towards the sky and at the end of it were placed the antennas which emitted the emotion-manipulating waves.

In the past minutes he and River separately searched for the direct control panel and it seemed that Andrew found it. River quickly climbed up the ladder through which she could get near to the place where the boy stood.

"Yes, this will be it," the woman said as she caught a glimpse of the machine which was wired to the central pillar's side.

River stroked the counter's surface to find the hidden key which opens and makes the control panel visible. She found it after a little search, she pushed it and the keyboard revealed itself. It wasn't dusty, thanks to the tool's self-cleaning system. There were three monitors on it but only one of them worked: rows of numbers and letters ran on it.

River took a look at it then crunched her fingers and started to type.

"I'm not too experienced in this but I hope it works!" she added.

Andrew watched carefully as the woman worked, he didn't want to disturb her. He wasn't afraid now from that they will be attacked. The Eve-named Proclamator, it seemed, will be knocked out for a long time and her Icron-named partner chased Kara.

The boy felt bad. They were here because of him, on this planet, the Doctor wants to save his life. But he's not doing anything to move the case forward and he risks his life in the Nursing Home. He let the Proclamators to catch him and try to delete the Doctor's memory from his mind. The bomb was broken up by Kara, River prevented shooting him down and now she works on fixing the aggression-controller. Probably the Doctor and Clara also do something which contributes to saving the planet. He felt himself unnecessary. He wanted to do something.

"Is there a layout somewhere?" he risked a question. "About the corridor network."

"Of course," River nodded and turned in the second monitor on which criss-cross lines appeared. "Why?" she asked back.

"If I could make contact with Kara somehow, I could help her find a loophole or get to the TARDIS."

"Wait a minute!" River stopped typing and took her head band from the side-bag then opened up a casing cell and started to delve between the wires, careful not to tear one.

Then she gave the band to Andrew on which two cables were reeled. Then she typed a little and waved to the boy to put it on. Andrew obeyed.

"Wakilan'dars, because of their special brain structures, are more sensitive to telepathy then other, non-telepathic species. I connected the band to one of the tower's subsystem so you'll be able to make contact with her. Just concentrate!"

Andrew first felt buzzing then a sharp pain. Then he found himself in a very strange state, he felt as if his brain would sink into a bowl of pudding. At least, he could describe it this way. Because River supplied it with a relatively little capacity, it detected only two Wakilan'dars' minds. Firstly, only emotions: contentment and anger from the first, fear and defiance from the other. He knew that the second is Kara's so he didn't pay attention to the previous.

He connected, he imagined it like when he turns in the wireless internet. He felt as he steps through the limit of the lizard girl's mind and a moment later they joined completely. He saw with his eyes what the young female did, he felt as she breathes.

"Kara!" he called.

"Andrew?" the token of Kara's thoughts seemed surprised.

"I can help you escape."

"You can't."

"Why?" he asked but he realised it himself.

He saw that the Proclamator stands in front of her, he felt as the female's back touches some kind of cold, metallic surface. He knew, like Kara did, that she got to a dead end. 'A generator,' crossed his mind.

"Thank you!" Kara spoke as if saying farewell. "Thank you for everything!"

The Wakilan'dar girl looked down at the hugged bomb. Andrew felt the thoughts connected to it: the countdown expired.

Kara closed her eyes tightly.

"Turn it off!" Andrew yelled at River but the woman wasn't fast enough.

The darkness fell onto Andrew; he felt a deep, painful silence. It hurt him. He felt like crying. He wanted to curl up in a corner and cry. Just crying harrowingly, maybe that chases this torturing emptiness away. This horrible feeling of loneliness.

Then it ended.

River turned off the device. Andrew stood, he didn't come to himself yet from that the telepathic connection between them broke with violence. Then he looked at the woman and he could read sorry from her eyes.

"She was at a generator," he said slowly, speaking was strange now. "That also exploded."

"The console is still working," River spoke. "And it is ready," she pushed some more buttons, "like this. The controller is working."

"Then what kind of generator was that?" the boy mused.

The Doctor's lungs were slowly filled by air. He was gasping for oxygen in a frantic manner. His bloodstream slowly started and his body awakened. The force returned to his limbs. And he could move again.

The force field broke off. This surprised him the same like Teb'Sagro. While he tried to come to himself and was thinking about whether the unfinished process's effect turned back, Teb stared unbelievingly at the renascent man. There was something in him, something strange. As he lifted his eyes onto the man, the lizard creature understood what it is. He now saw the warrior and not the healer. This look is given to the Doctor's enemies who he thinks unwarrantable.

Teb started to recede towards the gun. The Doctor started after him. The man's screwdriver was in his hands is a blink and swung it. The gun spit sparks as the sonic technology elicited its internal system.

Teb then overcame on himself and stood up. He didn't believe in anything through all his life, now he does at last. He believes that Nayads will bring the better world. If he needs to, he dies proudly for the beings which came from the other spectrum of reality. The Doctor stopped in front of him as well.

"You fight for these, Doctor?" Teb suddenly spoke. "These creatures kill each other in the name of their religions instead of uniting below one belief! There is only one true belief. Nayads will bring the better world, why can't you see it? Other religion doesn't have a place in the world."

"You're stating lies!" the Doctor snarled at him. "You're lying to the world and to yourself."

"Everything I say is true," the Nayads' slave defended himself, "nothing else is permitted."

"Nayads don't have helpers," the Time Lord explained. "They have slaves."

The room's air suddenly changed. An affable but bitter scent filled it which the Doctor immediately felt. He knew what it is within moments: a reality-gap opens.

One of the room's points, opposite Teb'Sagro, started to glow and two Nayads appeared in the light orb. One of them wore a silvery armour, the Doctor recognised the latest messenger in it. The second wore a harness which was made from golden sheets. Both of them kept rods in their webbed hands. Their cloched heads turned to the Wakilan'dar, they didn't pay attention of the Time Lord.

"It wasn't about this, Teb'Sagro," the golden harnessed spoke. "You caused disappointment." A green ray broke out from its rod which hit the lizard creature and encompassed him.

As the green light evaporated, Teb fell to the ground. He was still alive but his belief collapsed.

"You won again, Doctor," the messenger Nayad howled, turning to the man, "I admit. But it would be better if you'd do your own things. Not to make your partners regret it. You won't have that luck again what you did at the Cascade. _In statu nascendi et in aeternum._"

The radiance slowly dispersed, the Nayads were gone. The Doctor stepped to the Wakilan'dar and crouched opposite him. Teb's glassy eyes turned to the man.

"There are no losers in the Creation, only me," he whimpered.

"Come on, it's nothing," the Doctor told him nicely. "You'll live it down."

"But I can still finish my work." Teb's eyes suddenly flashed and he pushed a button on the switch which was still in his hand. "Say goodbye to your beloved Earth!"

"What have you done?" the man yelled at him but the lizard creature didn't answer.

The Doctor stood up and started towards the exit. He stepped to Clara and took her into his arms. However, before he could leave the room, he came to a halt at the Wakilandar's faint voice.

"You could have been a god, Doctor! The god of the new world."

"I don't want to be a god," the Time Lord spoke above his shoulder, "that is a lone thing to do."

With that, he stepped into the tunnel, holding the girl gently, to leave everything that happened in this room behind.

River and Andrew stood next to the TARDIS, opposite Commander Vog. Earlier, the woman, with the help of the head band, informed the Peace Guard's leader about that the tower is operable again. The Commander receipted and told her that the war scientists worked out a bullet which has the effect of the band's crystals. Currently, they're soothing the passing chaos with this.

River also shared Andrew's suspicion with the Commander, according to which the Proclamators are connected to the events with more strands. Andrew thinks that the outbreak of the anarchy only served to test the memory-amending compound. Vog gave out a warrant of arrest against the Proclamators.

The Doctor joined them later on after lying Clara down in one of the TARDIS' rooms. Then he shared his experience with River and Andrew. It seemed, Teb'Sagro and Ral Caim could work together. Commander Vog confirmed that in the previous years the Proclamators' complete crew was replaced by Zhak soldiers. The chaos had two purposes: the Proclamators' leader could test the serum and the Wakilan'dar could set a trap for the Doctor. They only didn't realise yet that what was Teb's last threat.

A Peace Guard arrived to them and stopped in front of Commander Vog.

"Sir, we've found something!"

Xan just returned from the headquarters of the Cult of Skaro with the three squads which were commanded there earlier. In the church, they found only a couple of Daleks with shelled armours. Someone killed them way before the outbreak of the chaos.

They were heading towards the base when Xan noticed a Proclamator-detachment, with the commander prefix-wearing armoured being ahead of it. He waved to the Peace Guards who clipped the ball cartridge into their weapons then they started with apace to compass the grey-armoured soldiers. The Proclamators noticed them as well, forming a circle quickly, their rifles, like a hedgehog's spikes, stared outside. The Wakilan'dars surrounded them. Both teams waited what the other would do.

The Peace Guard-leader's son targeted Commander Ral Caim with his rifle. The Commander did an unexpected thing: he took off his helmet and threw it in front of the lizard creature. His red eyes fixed on the boy and disdain was reflected on his face.

"Come on, boy," he spoke on a demure voice, "what will you do? Shoot me?"

"I should do that. The madness would end with your death."

"But you don't do it!" The commander's voice hardened. "You aren't soldiers, you're only pretending to be. A Zhak is a real warrior who fights instinctively."

"You don't have to be tell me off, Commander, I know what Zhaks are like. You are arrested because of your crimes against Pluvia."

"You can't arrest me." Caim lifted his hand to give a sign to his soldiers for the fire.

Xan shot without thinking; the Commander put his hand to his chest and fell to his knees. Blood swept through the armour's cracks. He spit blood as well. He could look up to his killer once then spread on the ground. He died.

The Proclamator soldiers measured their numerical disadvantages, not to mention the Peace Guard-had proton guns' devastating power and they lowered their guns instead. Xan was right, the Commander was the soul of all of this, he represented the fighting spirit.

The Peace Guards drove the Proclamators away.

Later on, the Doctor, Andrew, River and the Peace Guard's few soldiers stood next to a missile. It could probably be installed during the outbreak of the "religion war". The Peace Guards could break up its systems which also stood up to the Doctor's sonic device. They only realised the missile's content and destination. It contained the gaseous form of the serum used by the Proclamators and the impact's place was the Earth.

"How can they send a missile to Earth from here?" Andrew asked from the Doctor.

"I don't know," the man admitted. "But we'll find that out soon."

The countdown slowly expired, the missile started. But it didn't shoot towards the sky as Andrew always sees it on telly. It simply vanished with a flash.

The Doctor watched the place with interest where the missile was earlier. He sniffed the air then stretched out his tongue and quickly pulled it back.

"Vortex propulsion," he said. "Marvellous! Except its destination. Let's go!" he grabbed Andrew's arm and they started to run.

River followed them.

Andrew was already in the spaceship but the Doctor stopped in the door to say goodbye to River Song.

"And now, what will you do?" he asked.

"You know me, I always find some adventure," the woman smiled. "I heard on the streets that a certain Father Octavian organises an interesting expedition. It sounds good! Maybe I'll jump in to take a look at it."

The Doctor started to smile as well.

"Do that!" With that, he jumped into the TARDIS and swung the door shut.

He pulled a handle, twisted a switch then stared at the monitor. He tried to stand onto the vortex trail which was left by the missile. As the sensors caught the Vortex, he exclaimed and started the spaceship.

River watched from outside as the TARDIS, screaming and huffing again, vanishes. She wanted to go what a female voice sounded behind her.

"Doctor Song?"

"Yes?" As River turned, she found herself face to face with Senator Osinn. Her eyes were wet.

"They said that you know what happened to my daughter, Kara."

River swallowed, she wasn't good in conversations like this.

"She was a hero, she saved the life of a good man."

Andrew watched from the chair, which was fixed to the rail, as the Doctor tries to stabilise the TARDIS. She shook from time to time but willingly followed the missile. Then the Time Lord exclaimed.

"And another path!" He set the sensors onto it as well but gave it up almost immediately. "Arriving to December 21, 2012, planet Earth, London."

"That was the day we met," Andrew noticed.

"Yes. I think, the chimera travels in this cabin, the one which brought us together." He grinned at the boy.

About five minutes later, the spaceship landed.

"1908, Tunguska," the Doctor said. "This explains a lot of things."

He disappeared in one of the corridors then returned in a red spacesuit to which a yellow helmet connected with a black tube. He put it on and it became fixed with a hiss. As the internal lights turned on, a strange shadow sat onto the Doctor's face.

"I go out now," he explained, "you stay here. I don't know what kind of effect would it have on you."

The Doctor spent half an hour outside then came back, got out of the spacesuit and started the TARDIS without a word. He decided that he takes Andrew home.

As the ship landed, he stopped in front of the boy who turned to him with interest.

"Clara sleeps for a long time," he said.

"Yes, they said that a man can be really knocked out by this stuff," Andrew approved. "What did you get to know?"

"Comparing it with what you said," the Doctor started to explain, "we can talk about a memory-amending chemical. As it lashed in, the mechanic started to pump it immediately. Not only the carrier's propulsion worked with vortex technology but it was the Time Vortex itself. At least, in a little form. So it disperses the gas on Earth not only now but in every time."

"A rift will be here, like the one in Cardiff?"

"I told you that it isn't like the Time Vortex. It's a brilliant device. Commander Caim could probably get the base of it from the Nayads. In my opinion, and it is only guess, the chimera was the experimental rabbit. A very ugly one." He puckered up his lips.

"So this thing is responsible for that no one remembers you," the boy stated, "or your actions. Or anything what is connected to you."

"Exactly," the Doctor poked the air. "Maybe it's better like this, there are lots of things to forget."

"Then why is the show needed?"

"This is really obvious. If the reality starts to dawn for someone, because, let's say, the effect is not a hundred percent, what do they think where could they see it? On the telly, yes, you guessed right. It's easier to fill the cracks in the memory like this."

"But I remember you, and your partners as well. The Icron-named guy explained this as a 'direct link'. On this, he meant that we know you personally?"

"Maybe, I don't know. There are people who made direct contact with alien things. Actually, I have no idea, I don't know the Nayad technology enough."

"And when will the oblivescence start?"

"It remembers a little to the natural ability of the Silence," the man pointed out. "As you don't watch, you don't remember. Simple."

"But I don't remember the earlier things, from before I met you."

"You won't, I won't resolve the effect retrospectively. It's time for you to go home!" The Doctor made the earlier tumbled coat rack stand and picked up Andrew's jacket from the ground. "I'm sorry that we didn't get to know anything about the signals."

"Wouldn't you be able to turn it off? Or delete it?"

"Unfortunately no, this is more intractable than the show's. But," he stepped to the six-part counter, a hidden drawer opened and took out a mobile phone then threw it to Andrew, "here this is. I'm on the speed dial. If there's a problem, call."

Andrew walked out of the TARDIS while he took his coat from the Time Lord. For his biggest surprise, they were in the living room of the apartment on Russell Street.

The Doctor looked out from behind the door board and started to grin.

"I couldn't have thought that I fit in here. Wow, how precisely could I park!"

Andrew turned to look into the Doctor who was leaning to the door. He smiled continually.

"So, this is it," Andrew said. "For now."

"Before I go, I have two questions now, just to be equals. You know that I lived through quite a few memories of mine nowadays. So: don't you have a pretty little silver fob watch, by any chance? You know, an old-fashioned one. Because last time, when I thought about someone that he's my fan, I saw myself."

"You seriously think now that…" The boy laughed out loud. "No, I don't have any," he shook his head.

"You know, it's comforting, don't feel offended. It's not as if I'd have a problem with your body but I take younger and younger shapes nowadays and I was a little afraid of where this can deteriorate." The grin froze from his face as he got ready to the ask of the second question. "Seriously, though: what do you know about Clara?"

"What?"

"You saw everything, you could see a thing which I overlooked. Who can she be?"

"Spoiler." that was all Andrew said.

"I knew that River will have a bad effect on you," the Doctor shook his head. "But you're right; I can't stir into my timeline, neither like this. Here, I have a time machine and I can still wait its time like a normal human. It passes so bloody slowly."

In this moment the lock rustled and before they could react, a fifteen-year old girl's lovely face appeared at the door. She held bags in one of her hands. The Doctor's and Andrew's gaze turned towards her.

"Andrew, how many times did we tell you that don't use the key to lock the door if…" Her words got stuck as she caught a glimpse of the blue police box.

"Is this a direct link?" the boy looked at the Doctor.

"I think this is." The man jumped through the door, into the TARDIS. "I trust you with this one."

The box vanished, screaming, the alien wind riffled Andrew's hair and his sister's blonde curls. Their mother's voice sounded from outside.

"Please, Steph, don't stand in the way! Tell your brother to help me instead!"

Andrew lifted his index finger to his mouth, signalling to Stephanie, not to mention what she saw. He sank the mobile phone into his pocket.

"I'm coming, Mum!" the boy shouted. "I promise that I'll explain everything," he whispered to his sister.

He ran out the door as Steph gave way to him and hugged his mother. He was home again, truly home. He knew that his joint story with the Doctor didn't end but he wasn't interested in that now.

He arrived home.

_The phone is ringing, the Doctor's on the way_

_To save Andrew and also save the day._

_Then they travelled, now back in time,_

_And ran into a horrible fight._

_The blue box lands in the bloody chaos,_

_Here the two time travellers have to be heroes._

_As it's usual, they also get into trouble,_

_But maybe they'll be rescued by a band of brothers._


	5. Doctor Mini - Just Like His Ancestors

**Author's Note: Minis don't replace the next chapter, only continue the previous chapter's events.**

1476, Florence.

An amazing Italian city, Toscana region's capital and cultural centre. It is called the cradle of renaissance because it did a lot to reborn after the dark ages and spread this new philosophy. Thanks to the city-leading Medici family's beneficent support, Florence's artists were very famous.

But something hid behind the mask of wealth. Something dark. The outstanding position of the Medicis wasn't looked on with favour. The people hatched an evil plot to dispossess the that time leading Lorenzo de Medici, his helpers and clients.

One of this intrigues found its victim in the man who stood dreamlessly and mused on his life in one of the scarce cells of the prison tower on the Piazza della Signoria. He was forty years old; his crinkle-slashed face was framed by his shoulder-length brown hair. His delicate, Merino wool-loomed clothes were torn and dirty, his catchers didn't take trouble over taking them off of him before they started to torture him. Then they left his clothes on him.

His deeply sitting, wise eyes forked to and fro but he couldn't decide himself whether he's looking for a way out or he only assesses the territory from habit.

Until this time, he watched his prison's door, now he turned to look out through the barred window. He saw as the moon slowly rose on the horizon and leaves Florence's roofs under itself.

When they caught him, they caught his two sons as well. He could almost see in front of him as in another cell Petrucchio, the younger son, sleeps extended on the straw-hinted floor. Federico, the older probably sits leaning to the wall, fretting and cursing God. He knew what awaits them, his little brother wasn't old enough to understand.

But he had a third son, the medial. He was still a fugitive. The man very worried about him. As much as he did so about his wife, Maria and their daughter, Claudia. He hoped that they got to safety. They only wanted to finish the family's male members off, maybe they forget the girls, he prayed inside.

He groped his left forearm. He felt the rough, cold metal under his cloth.

Then he heard noises. As a shoe scratches the stone while it erodes tiny crumbs. He knew that his son is coming: the boy climbs up on the tower's side as he learnt this long ago from his brother who the man taught. The man himself consummated specimens like this numbers of times.

He jumped to the window, his left palm grabbed one of the bars. His calculation worked, his son's young, worried face appeared.

"Ezio!" he shouted while he stuck his right hand through the bars to stroke the boy's face.

"Father! What's happened?" he asked with complete confusion in his eyes.

"Took a bit of beating, but I'm alright. What of your mother and sister?"

"Safe now."

"Annetta took them?"

"Yes… Wait. You knew this would happen?!"

"Not the way it did… and not this soon. It doesn't matter now." He knew that he couldn't keep a cool head. His son can see how big the trouble is.

"What do you mean? Explain!"

"There's no time." He shook his head. "Listen closely: Return to the house. In my office is a hidden door. Use your talent to find it! Beyond lies a chest. Take everything you find inside. Among the contents is a letter – and with it some documents. I need you to take these documents to Messer Uberto, he can prove our innocence. He was with me in the office this morning. Did you understand?"

"Yes. Now please - tell me what's happening! Are the Pazzi behind this?"

Suddenly strange noises hit his ears. They were far but neared towards his cell.

"I can't." He softened his voice. "Go Ezio! Go now!"

He looked behind his back to see who can near. They didn't arrive here so he turned back. But his son's face was already gone.

He quickly stepped away from the window not to make the accidentally approaching guards pay attention to it. He wished good luck to his son inside. As his forking thought weren't occupied by the boy, he found something familiar in the noises. A whistling humming. He already heard this somewhere, a very long time ago. Years ago, in Rome.

A man used an object which gave a similar sound. He thought back then that the object can be one of those relics which are connected to those who were walking before us by the codex sheets of his grandfather's, Ilario's.

The man who used it called himself the Doctor. He didn't know what kind of doctor, his name was this much. At least he didn't say more than this about himself. But he didn't pump it, he knew that a name's knowledge can be dangerous. The man saved his life that day.

"Doctor, is that you?" He risked a careful shout.

"Of course, it's me, who did you wait?" The reply came.

For some reasons, his voice was strange, younger. Maybe only the echo makes it that way, he mused. After all, he hadn't seen an object like this with someone else, so by the right of its sound it was really the Doctor who came here.

The man appeared soon after but it wasn't the man he remembered. The man's tall, slender figure, brushy tuft and sharp chin didn't resemble at all to that Doctor who he knew. The similarity was in both of them that they wore unusual clothes, not contemporary ones. And that weird neckwear!

The man tried to open the cell door's lock and he could observe the object in his hand. It wasn't the same, either, maybe two types of it exists. But they gave the same humming so their technology is the same. Maybe an impostor? They want to get something out of him like this? He discarded the idea straight away, the newcomer's irradiance recalled the Doctor's. It didn't only recall it, it was the same.

"Doctor, is that you?" he asked again.

"Of course, who else would I be? Maybe I look someone else?" The question was only rhetorical, at least he thought that he meant by one.

Then he slowly realised the truth. As he left everything to his son, maybe the Doctor did the same. It would explain why he looks so different. He could also inherit the name.

"I'm sorry for your father!" he spoke.

"My father?" The man's smile faltered. "Oh, yes, my father. Unfortunate thing." He sighed, looking down. "A brick fell onto his head. But he died happily, there's a worse passing than this." He finished his job and opened the door. "Come on, I set you free!" he offered his hand.

But he just stood in one place, proudly.

"No, Doctor. I won't escape. In my whole life, I searched the truth, I lean on it now as I always did. My son will save us. How did you know that you had to come here?"

"Only a few people are able to send a message to a psychic paper," he explained. "You're one of them. I thought that the place and the date came from you."

"You thought it wrong. I know that my son will succeed."

"Come on, don't be silly. You can go far away from here, along with your son."

"I see that your father's wise didn't stick to you," he said, pouting. "He would see my point."

"Of course I see it but your life is at stake."

"I know and my family's. But I don't hide from the law. Please, go! Before they find you."

The Doctor took a look at him then he closed the barred door again. But before he left, he quickly spoke after him.

"Wait!" He stepped to the bar and pulled up the left sleeve of his cloth. "The soldiers didn't notice it. They're ever more nonchalant." There was an arm guard on his forearm, he started to buckle it downwards. "Pass this to my son, he will need it. Please, do this for me!" With that, he reached the arm guard through the bar.

The Doctor looked at him then took it from his hand. He nodded towards him then left. He heard as, with the help of the little object, the Doctor locks the doors. Then everything fell silent.

He sat into a corner and looked out of the window. He watched the moon which slowly left his view. He could do only this. The morning will judge.

"So you do what he asked you to?" Clara asked, standing in front of the Doctor. She still wiped the sedating bullet's effect from her eyes.

"Yes," the Time Lord nodded.

He looked down at the arm guard in his hand. When he went for it into the salon, more than the half of the inside blade was broken down. He didn't know what happened to it.

He stepped out of the TARDIS' door and found himself in his acquaintance's mansion, in its study. He was lucky; he was there the same night on which he conducted the discussion with him. He rarely lands this exactly, not to mention the parking. Arriving twice inside is a very nice achievement.

He noticed a painting on the wall opposite and the picture portrayed an old castle. He found it strange, so he pointed at it with the sonic. He thought it right; he found some kind of mechanism behind it. He turned the screwdriver on, the green crystal flashed, the wall stirred. It started to slip slowly to the side. He stepped into the unfolding premise.

It was a tiny room, inside with a huge chest, a table and a wood puppet on which a white-red, hooked dress rested. He stepped to the chest, opened it and put the arm guard and the broken blade piece onto the clamped documents which were lying inside.

He quickly sneaked out of the room and locked the secret door back with the screwdriver. He jumped into the TARDIS and the box soon vanished. The boy couldn't see it who ran into the deranged house, distraught.

"And who will repair it?" Clara elbowed the fence.

"I heard that Leonardo is a good friend of the family. He's surely adept in repair it, he's a great skull."

"You surely understood each other," the girl started to smile.

"Oh, no. I've never met him. Maybe one day. So, where should we go now?"

"I don't know. The Victorian London always interested me, I've no idea why. It's such a cool era."

The Doctor stifled a smile.

"But I'd go home before that," his companion continued, "it was too much at once."

"Alright, then home!" the Doctor agreed then started to feed the destination into the TARDIS' system.

"Who was he, by the way?" Clara asked. "I mean your friend who you talked about."

"Giovanni Auditore. And just like his ancestors, he was also an Assassin."


End file.
